Cybersecurity, legal shields and working in alliances are some of the fundamental factors to consider when conducting journalistic investigations on corruption issues in Latin America, according to speakers on the Corruption Coverage panel, held during the 11th Ibero-American Colloquium of Digital Journalism in Austin, Texas on April 15, 2018.
At least 19 journalists and media professionals were attacked in various cities in Brazil between April 5 and 7 while working to cover former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (2003-2011) going to jail, according to records from the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji). The assaults, which came from supporters of Lula and the Military Police, were repudiated by press organizations in Brazil and Latin America.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has recommended the creation of a communications monitoring council independent of political and commercial interests in Ecuador, reported El Universo.
The Brazilian press needs to do more to create diverse newsrooms.
The Colombian media company Publicaciones Semana S.A. will not have to reveal the sources of information for an investigative report published in its magazine Dinero.
Venezuelans surf the net with the lowest internet speed in South America.
Journalist and political activist Fernando Villavicencio and former congressman Cléver Jiménez, who were prosecuted criminally at the beginning of 2014 after being taken to court by then-Ecuadoran president Rafael Correa as a result of a journalistic investigation, were declared innocent on Feb. 22 by the Criminal Court of the National Court of Justice.
The Brazilian Civil Police have accused Renato Oliveira, deputy secretary of Embu das Artes prefecture, in the São Paulo metropolitan region, of being the author of an attack against journalist Gabriel Barbosa da Silva, which occurred on Dec. 28, 2017.
Severe restrictions on freedom of expression that include censorship and closure of media outlets, assaults and attacks against journalists and criminalization of opinion contrary to the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, were documented by an annual report of the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). The report specifically analyzed the situation of human rights in Venezuela during 2017.
After four journalists from investigative journalism site Armando.info left Venezuela due to a looming defamation lawsuit, an important group of journalists and organizations that defend freedom of expression and the press throughout Latin America have signed a statement warning about the serious deterioration of the conditions facing the Venezuelan press.