Bolivian journalist Luis Zabala Farell, who had been in prison since Jan. 17 for allegedly instigating violence on his radio show, was freed Thursday, April 14, but is not allowed to discuss his case, El Diario reports.
The Parliamentary Front for Freedom of Expression and the Right to Communication with Popular Participation was launched by Brazilian lawmakers on April 19, Agência Câmara dos Deputados reports.
Paraguay journalism groups have denounced what they call the “persecutory attitude” of the management at Canal 9 TV Cerro Corá in their actions against its employees, which came to a peak when the station abruptly canceled a news show after 17 years on the air, Paraguay.com reports.
The director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Irina Bokova, condemned the April 9 killing of Brazilian journalist Luciano Leitão Pedrosa.
Last week the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) released a report criticizing the use of libel laws in Ecuador to silence critical speech, prompting Ecuador to reject the report, saying the commission was acting outside of its jurisdiction, Terra reports.
Italian journalist and professor Giovanni Proiettis, a resident of the southern Mexican state of Chiapas for 18 years, was summarily deported back to his home country April 15, Proceso reports.
Renowned Brazilian journalist Fernando Rodrigues, who has worked as a reporter, editor, foreign correspondent, and columnist and was a Nieman Fellow in 2007, has been instrumental in the push for Brazil to finally adopt a freedom of information law. The president of the Brazilian Association for Investigative Journalism (Abraji), which is one of the world's top investigative groups, Rodrigues also played a key role in the 2004 launch of the Forum for the Right to Access Public Information. Due in part to years of Rodrigues' tireless efforts campaigning for freedom of information, Brazil finally is poised to enact a p
Guilherme Mendes, Carlos Batista, and Edmilson Luz for TV Liberal were arrested in the city of Acará, Pará, while reporting on complaints by users at a local health clinic, Portal ORM reports.
In response to criticism from journalists and media outlets, the Colombian government said a proposed law that punishes officials who leak confidential information will not affect the media and that journalism issues have their own jurisdiction, El Tiempo reports.
After years of proposed transparency laws that went nowhere, a freedom of information act is gaining momentum in Brazil, where newly elected President Dilma Rousseff is expected to finally sign such a law on May 3, World Press Freedom Day, according to Brazilian media like Valor and acritica.com. What's more, once it has an information access law in place, Brazil is expected to join the United States in leading an international transparency campaign, Valor said.
In another case of court-ordered censorship in Brazil, journalist Esmael Morais’ blog was taken down at the request of the governor of Paraná state, Beto Richa, Folha de São Paulo reports. The politician’s suit against the blog began during the 2010 electoral campaign season, when Morais posted a video comparing Richa to Adolf Hitler.
Colombian journalists and media outlets are concerned that a newly proposed intelligence law would punish public officials who leak information to the press and lead to censorship, RCN Radio reports.