During the first six months of 2012, 72 journalists were killed worldwide, a 33 percent increase over the same period the year before, according to a report published on Monday, July 2, by the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC).
On Sunday, July 1, an Ecuadorian journalist was shot nine times and killed by two men on a motorcycle close to his house in the town of El Triunfo, about 38 miles from the coastal city of Guayaquil, reported the Ecuadorian NGO Fundamedios.
Authorities in Veracruz, Mexico, said they arrested nine organized crime suspects, at least one of whom is suspected of killing Mexican reporter Víctor Báez Chino, according to Milenio, the newspaper for which Báez worked.
An intern for the Associated Press (AP) was found dead in Mexico City during the wee hours of Saturday, June 30, the AP reported.
The Brazilian government told the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) of the Organization of American States that it will not reopen the case of the killing of reporter Vladimir Herzog for further investigation due to the amnesty law, reported the G1 on Thursday, June 21.
A public official from the Brazilian state of Maranhão was accused masterminding the killing of journalist Décio Sá, according to the hit-man's statement, which was leaked out on to the internet on Thursday, June 21, reported the Agência Estado.
Nearly two months after the killing of Mexican journalist Regina Martínez, authorities of the state of Veracruz leaked information to the local press indicating that the killing was a crime of passion and not related to her journalistic work, reported the newspaper Imagen del Golfo.
A month has passed since a freelance photojournalist from Texas working in Mexico has been heard from, reported the television station Fox 29 of San Antonio the night of Thursday, June 21.
A Mexican journalist was reported missing in the central state of San Luis Potosí, according to the news agency Notimex.
Authorities in the Mexican state of Veracruz, the most dangerous place in the country for journalists, reported that the criminal cartel Los Zetas claimed responsibility for the killing of a reporter from the newspaper Milenio, Víctor Báez, who was killed June 14, according to Univision.
The Brazilian police of Maranhão declared the case of the killing of journalist Décio Sá solved, adding that he was killed for his reporting. The killing happened on April 23, 2012, in a bar in São Luís, capital of the state, reported the newspaper Estado de São Paulo.
Another journalist was killed in Veracruz, México; his body was found inside of plastic bags in the early morning of Thursday, June 14, in the city of Xalapa, reported the Associated Process and the weekly Proceso. The search started the night before after the journalist was kidnapped while leaving his office, according to Reuters. It is believed that the journalist was probably a victim of organized crime, reported the newspaper El Economista.