The Brazilian news website Congresso em Foco was acquitted of defamation in the first of one of many lawsuits brought against the site, which published a series of reports on the existence of salaries higher than the constitutional ceiling for politicians, authorities and civil servants in the executive, legislative and judiciary branches, reported the Forum for the Right to Access Public Information.
A mayoral candidate in Honolulu is trying to get a reporter he doesn't like thrown off the campaign trail, reported the Honolulu Civil Beat.
The National Chamber of the Radio and TV Industry (CIRT in Spanish), which represents the majority of the radio and TV companies in Mexico, announced that it would appeal to international bodies to denounce the current electoral law, which limits freedom of expression and press freedom, reported the newspaper El Universal.
The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) has sent a letter of complaint to the Baltimore Police Department expressing concern after police threatened to arrest a citizen videotaping police conducting an arrest, according to the Baltimore Sun and the NPPA Advocacy Committee. Ironically, the incident occurred less than 24 hours after police issued new rules instructing officers not to "prevent or prohibit" people from photographing or taping police actions, another article in the Sun said.
"This demonstrates that you can prosecute not only the clowns, but also the owner of the circus," said Ecuadoran president Rafael Correa as he celebrated the high court's ruling upholding the defamation sentence against the owners of the newspaper El Universo, the same newspaper reported Thursday, Feb. 16.
After police in Trinidad and Tobago raided the office of the Newsday newspaper and the home of reporter Andre Bagoo on Thursday, Feb. 9, the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MATT) is calling for police to apologize and return Bagoo's hard drive and personal computers, reported the Trinidad Express.
"Long live free press!" said the Chilean president, Sebastian Piñera, Monday, Feb. 13, on his Twitter account to commemorate Chile's journalism day, according to the news agency Emol. "A salute to the Chilean journalists and press on their national day," added Piñera via Twitter.
While trying to cover anti-mining protests in the province of Catamarca in Argentina, journalists were denied access to the area, showing a deterioration in freedom of expression, said the Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA in Spanish). FOPEA also said that several protesters and journalists were detained and harassed.
From a jail in the United States, former Colombian paramilitary commander Diego Fernando Murillo, alias "Don Berna," accused two ex-members of the Colombian national military of being responsible for the killing of journalist and comedian Jaime Garzón on Aug. 13, 1999, reported Caracol Radio.
Two days after the killing of a Brazilian political journalist in the state of Río de Janeiro, Brazilian reporter Jorge Estevão received a death threat from an unknown person who pointed a gun at him early in the morning of Saturday, Feb. 11, in Cuiabá, the capital city of the state of Mato Grosso, reported HiperNotícias.
Community radio station, Ibicoara FM, was set on fire the morning of Wednesday, Feb. 8, in the city of Ibicoara, located in the Brazilian state of Bahía, reported the blog Minuto Notícias. The door of the station had been forced open, and all of the broadcast equipment was burned.
Because of the recent attacks on press freedom and freedom of expression in Ecuador, the country's president, Rafael Correa, has been criticized in recent days by various journalistic organizations, according to the newspaper La Hora.