Maurício Machado, journalist and owner of Jornal Atualidades in Marília, São Paulo, was granted pretrial release after spending six days in prison under charges of extorting a federal deputy, O Estado de S. Paulo reports. Prosecutors say the journalist planned to publish false stories about the deputy to force him to buy advertising at the paper.
Keeping with recent trends, the federal government increased its spending on advertising from $100 million in 2008 to $210 million in 2009, a pivotal election year for the ruling party, La Nación reports.