A driver, a security guard and a technician from TV Brasil were assaulted by a group of 10 armed robbers on Tuesday, Aug. 10, in the Tijuca National Park in Rio de Janeiro, reported O Globo. The victims were in the park repairing a broadcast antenna.
The government of Hugo Chavez took 32 radio and two television stations off the air last year, and to remember the occasion, journalists, media workers and former employees of the closed stations participated in a demonstration that branded the government's action as "arbitrary and illegal", reported AFP.
Government officials and soldiers from the National Guard took over one of the farms owned by Guillermo Zuloaga, the majority shareholder of opposition TV station Globovisión, El Nacional reports.
The prosecutor’s office has charged Perla Jaimes, the lawyer who both represents Globovisión owner Guillermo Zuloaga and the opposition station itself, with allegedly obstructing a court order during the raid of the businessman’s house last May, El Carabobeño reports.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva issued a decree that created an intergovernmental commission to propose changes to the regulatory system that governs broadcast media, O Estado de S. Paulo reports.
Journalist Herbin Hoyos, of the program “Voices of Kidnapping” (Voces del Secuestro), was awarded the Tolerance Prize by the Community of Madrid for his fight for freedom and coexistence, EFE reports.
A proposed law that will be debated in Paraguay's House of Representatives would establish community radio stations as those with signal strength between 50 and 300 watts, and would prohibit them from receiving funding from state or private advertising. The Paraguayan Journalists Union rejected the measure, calling the restrictions arbitrary.
Journalist Rodrigo Santos, of Rádio Cidade in Brusque, Santa Catarina, was punched and kicked by an official of the Catarinense Soccer Federation (FCF), Delfim Peixoto Neto, reported Diário Catarinense. After the attack, Santos lost consciousness and was taken to the hospital.
During the World Cup, the press often takes on the emotions of the fans and makes fun of rival teams. Humor is part of the game. But the tone Brazilian channel SporTv, owned by Globo, used to refer to Paraguay during the recent game has stunned fans, as the channel insulted the country and its people, rather than focusing on soccer.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez upped his verbal attacks against opposition television station Globovisión, and reiterated that the government could confiscate the channel's stock in order to recuperate the money he alleges the station owners stole, reported El Universal and the Associated Press.