Connecticut's Journal Register newspaper company has experienced its second round of plagiarism accusations in less then three months, reported Poynter. On Tuesday, Jan. 10, editor Matt DeRienzo revealed that a Jan. 5 front-page sports story in the Fairfield Minuteman plagiarized verbatim articles from two competing newspapers.
Opinion pieces written by Brazilian journalist José Marcondes have made him the target of lawsuits from businessman Aldo Locatelli and Senator Pedro Taques in the state of Mato Grosso, reported Mídia News.
Despite Peruvian President Ollanta Humala's campaign promise to decriminalize press crimes, the number of jail and probation sentences against journalists continue to rise in the Andean nation, Reporters Without Borders (RSF in French) claimed on Jan. 5.
An Ecuadorian judge's decision to sentence Hoy newspaper director Jaime Mantilla Anderson to three months in prison for libel drew condemnation from the Inter American Commission of Human Rights' Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, the Inter American Press Association and the Committee to Protect Journalists, reported the news agency EFE.
A Bolivian journalist filed charges of racial discrimination against the mayor of Santa Cruz after the mayor insulted the journalist, comparing him to a donkey during a press conference, reported the newspapers La Razón and El Deber on Jan. 3.
The national executive of the PSDB, the opposition party in Brazil, has threatened to sue controversial journalist Amaury Ribeiro Junior, author of the book A Privataria Tucana, that alleges cases of misappropriation of funds by members of the political party, according to Estadão. The journalist came under fire last year when he was charged with bribery and using false documents.
In a landmark decision for the press, the Brazilian Supreme Court of Justice ruled that a suspect's "presumed innocence" does not impede the press from reporting critical facts about the case.
On Dec. 11, the Venezuelan National Association of Journalists (CNP in Spanish) released a statement expressing concern over the $2 million fine the government levied against opposition television station Globovisión.
On Dec. 9, Costa Rican courts opened an avenue to appeal criminal libel sentences thanks to an Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) case involving a defamation charge against a journalist, reported AFP.
Relatives of Juan José Hernández Andrade, the Mexican reporter detained since Dec. 1, said that they managed to raise funds to pay bail to release the journalist so that Hernández could continue his legal battle in freedom.
On Wednesday, Dec. 7, a Peruvian journalist was sentenced to two years in prison for defamation, reported the newspaper La Primera.
Award-winning Colombian journalist Hollman Morris called on Congress to listen to the victims of wiretaps as testimony in the trial and investigation of former president Álvaro Uribe for illegal wiretapping and spying on journalists.