Feb. 17 was a day like any other for Yohir Akerman, former columnist for El Colombiano, until he discovered – while flipping through the pages of the paper – that he had been fired. The reason: claiming that “god was wrong” to reject homosexuality in the Bible in one of his columns.
Advocates are reporting that criminal gangs and paramilitary groups in Colombia, one of the most dangerous Latin American countries for journalists, have been issuing death threats for journalists and human rights defenders for the past two months. Media and government representatives have called for investigation to find the sources behind these threats.
Paraguay, Brazil and Mexico placed in the top 20 deadliest countries for journalists in 2014, according to a special year-end report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Impunity in the murder of journalists is not new in Latin America. In the last decade, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported 72 instances of journalists killed for their work. About 78 percent of these cases faced complete or partial impunity. But in Mexico, Colombia and Brazil, levels of impunity have surpassed those of any other Latin American country, according to CPJ’s 2014 Global Impunity Index.
When talking about politics, the 100 most relevant Colombian journalists with the most followers on Twitter openly share their opinions and are increasingly likely to include links that lead readers to websites other than their own. The findings were announced in a study presented by the University of Texas in Austin at the recent annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Media (AEJMC) in Montreal.
The newspaper industry may be declining, but its number of Twitter followers is not. Among top newspapers in Latin America, Venezuelan and Colombian publications claim the most Twitter followers, according to our recent survey, which included a sample of leading newspapers across the region.
Colombian journalist Javier Dario Restrepo and Mexican journalist Marcela Turati have been announced as the 2014 winners of the Gabriel García Márquez Foundation for New Ibero-American Journalism (FNPI) Acknowledgement of Journalistic Excellence award.
Los Urabeños and Los Rastrojos, paramilitary groups in Colombia, have published hits lists threatening a combined ten journalists with consequences if they don’t immediately abandon their posts and leave the towns where they work.
Award-winning Colombian journalist María Teresa Ronderos will be the new director of Open Society Foundations' Program on Independent Journalism. Each year, the program channels millions of dollars to support independent journalism projects around the world.
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) renewed its call for justice on the 16th anniversary of the murder of Colombian journalist Nelson Carvajal. IAPA once again insisted that authorities investigate and prosecute the crime, a request the organization has made since the case was opened in 2001.
Reporters Without Borders denounced that Colombian investigative journalist, Claudia Julieta Duque, continues to receive threats as her court case advances against the agents of the country's Department of Security (DAS) who, in the last 10 years, have followed, psychologically tortured and kidnapped her.
Gabriel García Márquez, the Nobel Prize-winning Colombian author who worked as a journalist for years and promoted excellence in the profession, died today in Mexico City at the age of 87, the BBC reported.