Journalists in the northeastern state of Rio Grande do Norte earn a base salary of $525 a month, the lowest in Brazil. They have launched a strong Internet campaign to criticize the decline of the profession in their state, and to demand a salary increase and respect for their human rights, the Portal Imprensa media news site reports.
Journalists from Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil will gather in the border cities of the three countries Nov. 26-28, 2010, to attend the First International Journalists Meeting on the Triple Frontier. The Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas is a co-sponsor of the gathering.
Gabriel Michi, president of the Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA in Spanish), explains the upcoming International Meeting for Journalists on the Triple Frontier, Nov. 26-28, 2010, in Paraguay. During the meeting, journalists from Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil will analyze and debate news coverage of themes pertinent to the tri-national region, such as contraband, terrorism, and drug- and human trafficking.
Since she began her career as a journalist in the medium-sized city of Juiz de Fora at the age of 22, Daniela Arbex was always told she needed to move to Rio de Janiero, São Paulo, or Brasília to have an impact. But she decided to stay and work for Tribuna de Minas, a paper with a circulation of 15,000, distributed in a city of around 600,000 people. It was here that she became a renowned Brazilian investigative journalist.
The Superior Military Court (STM) has given the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper access to documents on President-elect Dilma Rousseff’s arrest and imprisonment during the dictatorship (1964-1985), Folha reports. Carlos Alberto Soares, the court’s top justice, had previously denied the paper access to the information, saying he was attempting to prevent it from being used for political purposes during the presidential election campaign.
In what is being called a victory for free speech, a Brazilian judge has dismissed defamation and libel charges against U.S. journalist Joe Sharkey, who survived a collision over the Amazon in September 2006 that killed 154 people. Sharkey blamed failures in Brazil's air control system for the collision between the private jet in which he was flying and a commercial airliner. He reported the decision on his blog.
The federal government is preparing a new media bill for President-elect Dilma Rousseff and invited international specialists to discuss regulation issues at the International Seminar on Electronic Communication and Media Convergence, which took place Nov. 9-10 in Brasília. The conference gathered almost 300 representatives from government, industry, academia, international organizations, and journalism.
The editor of Jornal de Londrina, in Paraná state (south), has petitioned the Supreme Court to suspend a ruling requiring it to pay $353,000 for moral damages to an ex-mayor of Sertanópolis. The editor says the small paper will have to close if it’s obliged to pay.
The city outskirts, or peripheries, comprise a third of the Brazilian population. Because these communities traditionally are ignored by mainstream media – except in matters where stereotypes dominate – a citizen journalism project created by the Brazilian journalist Bruno Garcez, 38 years old, is aimed at covering these neighborhoods in a more complete and accurate way. With a fellowship from the Knight Foundation, offered by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), Bruno took a year off from his position as a Washington correspondent for BBC Brasil to be able to train citizen journalists in the poor co
The National Archive of Brazil’s Revealed Memories project (Memórias Reveladas) – created to facilitate the release of dictatorship-era documents (1964-1985) – is now at the center of a debate between journalists and the authorities after its refusal to release documents during the election, O Globo reports. The document project justified its decision by claiming “journalists were misusing documents and seeking data about candidates involved in the electoral campaign.”
In an interview with Estado de S. Paulo newspaper, the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, says he has information about Brazil that could have “shaken the electoral pretensions of some people.” Assange refused to reveal that information and said he had been unable to publish it due to the recent release of such a large quantity of documents about Iraq.
Congress is considering reactivating the “Communication Council” to assist and advise lawmakers on matters related to communication, Folha de Sao Paulo reports. It would not serve as an official monitor but would hold a consultative role.