Dignitaries, heads of states, journalists and advocates arrived in San José, Costa Rica yesterday, Thursday, May 2, for the welcoming reception of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s World Press Freedom Day conference.
A Costa Rican journalist avoided a libel lawsuit after retracting accusations she made against the brother of President Laura Chinchilla, Adrián Chinchilla, in an August 2012 article published in the newspaper La Nación.
Costa Rica’s highest court temporarily suspended the controversial Information Crimes Law that could send journalists and other individuals to prison for up to eight years for revealing government secrets, reported the newspaper La Nación on Saturday, Nov. 24.
Students took to the streets in downtown San José, Costa Rica on Thursday Nov. 15, to protest the country’s recently enacted and much reviled information crimes law, reported the Tico Times website.
Despite opposition from journalism groups, the president of Costa Rica announced a new law would take effect punishing journalists and citizens with up to 10 years in prison for releasing "political secrets," according to the newspaper El País on Wednesday, Nov. 7.
Costa Rican authorities identified the body of Mexican journalist Pascual Tarín Ávila, who had been missing since June 14, reported the newspaper La Nación.
In 1994, journalist Giannina Segnini founded a one-woman investigative unit—herself—at Costa Rica’s La Nación newspaper. Since then, the unit has grown into a five-person team that is trailblazing data journalism in Latin America, according to Journalism.co.uk.
Tico Times editor David Boddiger could already see the writing on the wall by the time he joined the newspaper two years ago.
Costa Rica’s oldest English-language newspaper, The Tico Times, announced on its website that it would stop publishing its print edition as of Friday, Sept. 28. The Associated Press reported that the 56-year-old newspaper laid off its entire 16-person staff on Tuesday, Sept. 25, and will restructure its business into an online-only publication.
The Costa Rican presidency created its own online newspaper to promote government achievements to citizens, reported the Central American newspaper La Nación.