Brazilians can now count on an Information Access Law to obtain data and non-secret government documents without having to provide justification for their information requests. The information access law went into effect on Wednesday, May 16, making Brazil one of 91 countries with freedom of informationlaws, reported ABC News and the newspaper Zero Hora. Also, the decree that regulates this law was signed by President Dilma Rousseff.
Another journalist from the Brazilian state of Maranhão has reported threats after the killing of journalist Décio Sá, reported the website Gazeta da Ilha on Monday, May 14. Other reporters and publishers of the state said they received frequent threats. Sá's friends say that he received threats before he was shot to death in a bar in São Luiz.
There is already enough public data available to follow the destruction process of the largest rainforest in the world, but what is missing is a way to aggregate all of the available information and make it easier for the public to understand what is happening to the Amazon. As such, Brazilian journalist Gustavo Faleiros, winner of the Knight International Journalism Fellowship, a scholarship program led by the International Center For Journalists (ICFJ), has designed a project to improve the free flow of information and news.
Brazilian Rep. Márcio Reinaldo Moreira slapped a reporter from the TV program Custe o que Custar (CQC) in the face, the night of Tuesday, May 8, in Brasilia, reported the portal UOL. Reporter Felipe Andreoli, victim of the attack, was interviewing the representative about the proposed constitutional amendment on slave work in Brazil and asked the politician if he didn't think it was unfair for the people to have to wait so long for such proposal to be voted on, according to the news site R7.
A journalist was surprised when he found a dynamite stick on his apartment's balcony in the city of Matozinhos in the state of Minas Gerais, on Saturday, May 5, reported the newspaper Estado de Minas. Oswaldo Mesquita, news site editor for Informatoz, was at his home with his wife, two kids, and other family members. There was no explosion, reported the news site G1.
The former president of the Brazilian city council of Curitiba (Paraná), João Carlos Derosso, threw a humor journalist's microphone out the window of a four-story building on Tuesday, May 8, reported the newspaper Gazeta do Povo. Journalist Maurício Meirelles is from the TV program Custe o que Custar on the CQC station.
The Deutsche Welle international competition for blogs, The BOBs, awarded the Brazilian Catraca Livre as the best blog in Portuguese this year. Catraca Livre, which means "Open Turnstile," is famous for publishing about Sao Paulo's free social and cultural events.
The Brazilian newspaper O Globo's recently launched iPad app "O Globo a Mais" is an afternoon publication that includes the highlights of the newspaper's printed version plus exclusive digital material. Pedro Doria, O Globo's editor for online, explained in an interview with the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas the different challenges of transitioning from paper to tablet.
After the killing of Brazilian journalist Décio Sá, of the newspaper O Estado do Maranhão, on April 23, other local reporters and editors said that they also receive frequent threats, according to Último Segundo.
A Brazilian police reporter's house was attacked by gunfire in the wee morning hours of Saturday, April 28, in the city of João Pessoa, capital of the state of Paraíba, reported the portal Uol.
The International Center For Journalists (ICFJ) has announced the newest recipients of the Knight International Journalism Fellowships.
Brazilian journalist Gilberto Dimenstein created the blog Catraca Livre (Open Turnstile) with the goal of informing the public about free or cheap cultural and social events in an effort to improve citizen engagement.