After years of proposed transparency laws that went nowhere, a freedom of information act is gaining momentum in Brazil, where newly elected President Dilma Rousseff is expected to finally sign such a law on May 3, World Press Freedom Day, according to Brazilian media like Valor and acritica.com. What's more, once it has an information access law in place, Brazil is expected to join the United States in leading an international transparency campaign, Valor said.
Colombian journalists and media outlets are concerned that a newly proposed intelligence law would punish public officials who leak information to the press and lead to censorship, RCN Radio reports.
Several studies launched by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in association with the Ford Foundation, discuss the regulation of Brazilian media, reported Agência Brasil. According to UNESCO, the objective is to contribute to the debate about the role of communications in the strengthening of democracy.
Brazilian authorities have proposed a National Plan for Community Radio Concessions, with the aim of expanding community radio stations and facilitating the licensing process, according to the Communications Ministry.
Brazil’s National Journalism Union (Fenaj) is organizing a caravan to the capital of Brasilia to garner support for a constitutional amendment that would reestablish the requirement for a journalism degree for all members of the profession.
The Paraguayan Congress has ratified a controversial bill that imposes restrictions on community radio stations, rejecting President Fernando Lugo's veto, according to the news agency EFE.
The Brazilian Senate is considering a proposed Constitutional amendment that would make Internet access a right for all citizens, according to El Nuevo Herald. Sen. Rodrigo Rollemberg, author of the proposal, wants to make the government responsible for providing Internet access to everyone.
The Salvadoran Congress ratified the Public Information Access Law on Thursday, March 3, after accepting some of the changes proposed by President Mauricio Funes, reported news agency EFE.
Brazil’s Communications Minister Paulo Bernardo says he wants to “comb through” the omnibus bill dealing telecommunications and broadcast regulation, O Estado de S. Paulo reports. The goal is to clarify the languages and provisions in the controversial bill that was initially proposed by Bernardo’s predecessor, Franklin Martins.
A new poll of Argentine journalists by Ibarómetro shows that 80 percent of those surveyed believe “there is freedom of expression” in the country, the state-run news agency Télam reports. 73 percent say they support a controversial media law that has stoked ongoing tensions and legal conflicts between the government and the country’s largest media companies.
After controversy sparked by a language in a bill that created crimes of “media violence," referring to content that disparages or satirizes women, the Supreme Court decided to withdraw the bill, barely more than a week after it was originally submitted to the National Assembly, EFE and La Prensa report.
Radio Faluma Bimetu/Coco Dulce, a station serving the Afro-Caribbean Garifuna community in the Honduran coastal city of Triunfo de la Cruz, returned to the air after a month of threats, tension, and hostility, reports Reporters without Borders (RSF).