Two international journalism organizations visited Mexico to evaluate the government's measures to protect journalists and the media's own safety strategies when reporting in the country's most dangerous regions, according to a statement from the International Press Institute and the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-INFRA).
Mexican journalists and bloggers need to urgently improve their understanding of digital and mobile security, according to a new report by Freedom House Mexico and the International Center for Journalists.
President of the Venezuelan National Journalists' Union (CNP in Spanish), Tinedo Guía, requested more protection for journalists who cover the country's legislature, reported the newspaper El Universal. On Tuesday, Feb. 5, reporters from private media organizations were prevented from covering an event at the National Assembly in Caracas.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF in French) called on the Colombian authorities to provide more protection for journalists threatened in the country during the past month, according to statements from both groups.
In a request for protection, Chilean journalist Mauricio Weibel said he was not the only one facing intimidation for his investigations into the country’s military dictatorship.
Journalists unions in Bolivia rejected the Life and Disability Insurance Law for Press Workers enacted by President Evo Morales on Monday, Dec. 10, reported the website Los Tiempos. The proposed insurance would be paid for with one percent of the monthly total gross revenue of public and private media organizations and managed by a board with majority State representation, added the website.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) launched the Speak Justice: Voices against Impunity campaign on Wednesday, Dec. 6.
Story Hunter, a global community of video reporters, recently released a four-minute documentary on the threats Mexican reporters face in Veracruz, a state where 11 journalists have been killed in the last 18 months. The Gulf-state of Veracruz is considered one of the 10 most dangerous places in the world for journalists, according to Reporters Without Borders.
Two young Mexican engineers developed an application for iPhone and iPad that turns users into citizen journalists when they report public security concerns, from broken traffic lights to police corruption and armed assault via Twitter, reported the website Texas Observer.
After living through a violent nightmare in Mexico, arrival at the doorstep of the United States should feel like a welcome relief for threatened Mexican journalists.
Journalist Peter Godwin said he recently met with the governor of Veracruz Javier Duarte to discuss violence against journalists in the Mexican state, even though the politician denied the meeting took place and other alleged participants also said they weren’t there, the Mexican weekly Proceso reported.
After a series of increasingly aggressive threats from an ex-commander of the Rondas Ostensivas Tobias de Aguiar (ROTA in Portuguese), an arm of the São Paulo Military Police, the newspaper Folha de São Paulo moved its reporter André Caramante to an undisclosed location for his security, reported the newspaper Brasil de Fato.