A day of demonstrations in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas ended with complaints of restrictions on freedoms of the press and of expression, including attacks and temporary detentions of some media workers, as well as international journalists being banned from entering the country.
In Honduras, investigative journalist Ariel Armando D’Vicente Jarquín, 48, was sentenced to three years in prison for the crime of defamation for reporting on a former police chief, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
A recent study by the European Broadcasting Union found that “well-funded and strong public service media goes hand in hand with signs of a healthy democracy.” Historically, funding challenges and scarce resources have plagued public media in Latin America.
There is discord between the government of Bolivian President Evo Morales and a large sector of the media, as well as organizations defending freedom of expression, said Edison Lanza, Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), during a visit to La Paz, according to Página Siete.
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) just announced its annual awards for Excellence in Journalism 2016, aimed to “encourage excellence in journalism and the defense of freedom of expression throughout the continent.”
Two Venezuelan news outlets suffered attacks from armed men in the past three days.
Arguing that journalists were making recordings in a “presidential corridor,” members of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB for its acronym in Spanish) in Venezuela detained journalists Andreina Flores and Jorge Luis Pérez Valery, according to the Press and Society Institute of Venezuela (IPYS).
Brazilian journalist Maurício Campos Rosa, owner of the newspaper O Grito, died on Aug. 17 after being shot five times. The murder occurred in Santa Luzia, in the metropolitan region of Minas Gerais' state capital. He was the fourth journalist killed in Brazil this year.
For repeatedly questioning the purchase of medication by the Ecuadorian government, journalist Janet Hinostroza, and the broadcaster Teleamazonas in which she hosts an interview program, were sanctioned on Aug. 8 by the Superintendency of Information and Communication (Supercom) of Ecuador, according to Fundamedios, a freedom of expression organization.
Threats and abuse against Noé Zavaleta led the Mexican journalist to leave the state of Veracruz on Aug. 12, according to Aristegui Noticias.
Reporters from the international news network CNN en Español, Fernando del Rincón and Alexis Ardines were summoned again by the Bolivian public prosecutor to testify in the trial of the case of human trafficking concerning the former partner of President Evo Morales, Gabriela Zapata, as reported by Página Siete.
In the course of reporting on Colombia’s violent and complicated internal conflict, journalist Hollman Morris was accused of being an “accomplice to terror” and endured threats and harassment.