The United States and Cuba are at opposite extremes of Freedom House’s Freedom on the Net 2012 report. According to the New York-based organization, the United States was ranked the second most “free” country in the world for online expression, while Cuba was listed as the second to worst.
Costa Rica’s oldest English-language newspaper, The Tico Times, announced on its website that it would stop publishing its print edition as of Friday, Sept. 28. The Associated Press reported that the 56-year-old newspaper laid off its entire 16-person staff on Tuesday, Sept. 25, and will restructure its business into an online-only publication.
During a shareholders' meeting for the Chilean newspaper La Nación, government representatives, who control 69 percent of the company's shares, voted to close and liquidate the storied newspaper on Monday, Sept. 24.
An Electoral Court in the Brazilian state of Macapá ordered the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo to remove a blog post by journalist João Bosco Rabello on Wednesday, Sept. 19, reported the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism.
A student project that explored the migratory effects caused by drug violence along the U.S.-Mexico border and a comprehensive reporting package on the ongoing development of Paraná state in Brazil won the Online News Association’s 2012 awards for non-English projects during the ONA’s latest conference in San Francisco.
The Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA in Spanish) released the results of a study on digital journalism in the South American country on Sept. 14, reported the organization.
The Costa Rican presidency created its own online newspaper to promote government achievements to citizens, reported the Central American newspaper La Nación.
An independent journalist and photographer in Cuba were reported missing after a surprise arrest in Havana, according to the website Martí Noticias.
In a statement released on Friday, Sept. 7, the Chilean state newspaper's union announced the government's decision to close La Nación, according to the AFP.
Judicial censorship of newspapers and blogs is on the rise leading up to municipal elections in Brazil. On Monday, Sept. 3, journalist Fernando Conceição claimed that a mayoral candidate tried to censor him in the city of Salvador.