Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos signed the country’s first Transparency and Access to Public Information Law today March 6, reported the Foundation for Freedom of the Press (FLIP).
The Attorney General's Office of Colombia has opened a preliminary investigation against Bogotá's public TV channel, Canal Capital, related to its coverage of the protests summoned by Bogotá's mayor Gustavo Petro Urrego, the channel said in a press release.
Two gunmen shot and killed Yonni Steven Caicedo, a 21-year-old Colombian cameraman for TV Noticias and Más Noticias, on Feb. 19 in the Comuna 12 section of the city of Buenaventura, according to the the Press Freedom Foundation (FLIP).
The Colombian news channel NTN 24, which transmits through cable in Venezuela, was taken off the air after reporting on the massive protests that shook the entire country on Feb. 12. According to Caracol Radio, the Venezuelan government said the news channel was misinforming on the events.
The Foundation for Freedom of the Press (abbreviated as FLIP in Spanish) published its annual report about the situation of press freedom in Colombia on Feb. 11. The report states that in 2013 a total of 194 individuals were victims of 123 direct attacks against the press.
The Spanish freelance photographer Borja Lázaro is still missing after disappearing on Jan. 8 in the Colombian northeastern department of La Guajira, infamous for drug trafficking and a growing presence of “Bacrim” - criminal paramilitary gangs – Reporters Without Borders informed.
Reporters without Borders has asked Colombian authorities to provide protection for Eva Durán, a journalist who received threatening phone calls on Jan. 18.
Three radio journalists in Guaviare, Colombia recently received death threats in response to their reporting on an upcoming vote that may remove the local governor from office. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Erika Londoño, Gustavo Chicangana and Jorge Ramírez received the threats via multiple text messages sent to Londoño's phone.
Several journalism organizations have requested an investigation on last month’s murder attempt against Colombian TV journalist Diego Gómez Valverde in the department of Valle del Cauca.
In the last 20 years, 670 journalists have been killed in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to delegates from the IFEX-ACL alliance, which recently presented their Annual Report on Impunity 2013
Using a new application for Android phones, any journalist in Mexico and Colombia can report real-time attacks to organizations dedicated to protecting freedom of expression, reported newspaper El Universal.
Reporters without Borders (RSF) condemned the intimidation and censorship against the journalists of indigenous media during the national mobilization of several regional groups in Colombia.