Three journalists were given police protection after receiving threats for publishing investigative pieces about a criminal organization that operates near Godoy Cruz, Mendoza.
Álvaro Dias, senator for the Social Democratic Party of Brazil (PSDB-PR), asked the Brazilian Senate on Feb. 10 to consider giving protection to Fábio Porchat, the director of Porta dos Fundos, due to various death threats made against the satirist Brazilian humor site, G1 reported on Feb. 11.
A day after the death of Bandeirantes TV’s cameraman Santiago Andrade on Feb. 10, Brazil’s Minister of Justice José Eduardo Cardozo met with the leaders of the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters (Abert), the National Association of Newspapers (ANJ) and the National Association of Magazine Editors (Aner) to discuss ideas on how to improve the safety of journalists, according to Agência Brasil.
The Mexican government's Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists reported having benefited 210 individuals and three non-profit organizations since its creation in November 2012.
Reporters without Borders has asked Colombian authorities to provide protection for Eva Durán, a journalist who received threatening phone calls on Jan. 18.
Mike O’Connor, a veteran war correspondent who spent the last five years advocating for journalists’ safety in Mexico for the Committee to Protect Journalists, died of a heart attack on Dec. 29. He was 67.
Superficial crime reporting that relies on bloody photos and spread, but lacks any explanation behind such photos, has become a common occurrence among Honduras' media outlets. The Fundación MEPI, a regional investigative journalism project based in Mexico City, says that its content analysis and interviews with reporters and editors have drawn out multiple reasons behind this growing trend: a lack of government-media implemented safety mechanisms to protect journalists, little access to timely official reports by the authorities, and fear of retaliation, if stories display too much context or insight.
With the purpose of helping journalists from different regions and reaches of the country improve their coverage of the conflict and post-conflict in Colombia, and the goal of creating a network of colleagues that specialize on these issues, several organizations have joined to launch a new digital project, Plataforma de Periodismo (“Journalism Platform” in Spanish).
Carlos Martínez is a reporter with Salvadoran news site El Faro who specializes in covering violence in Central America. He's part of the publication's Sala Negra team, which was created in 2011 with the goal of creating a model for permanent coverage of prisons, gangs, organized crime and violence in the region.
Journalism organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF in French) called on Colombian authorities to guarantee the safety of four journalists who had received threats from La Guajira governor Juan Francisco Gómez. Last weekend, Gómez was arrested for his alleged participation in three killings and accused of having links with criminal organizations, news agency AFP reported.
As part of its campaign Impunity Kills, the Mexico chapter of press freedom organization Article 19 started a launch campaign for both a new documentary and a petition gathering signatures to ask the nation's authorities to fulfill their duties to protect journalists and investigate crimes against them.
As Brazil begins its investigation into claims that the U.S. spied on the communications of President Dilma Rousseff, Brazilian lawmakers are seeking federal protection for journalist Glenn Greenwald and his partner David Miranda, RT.com reported. Legislators say Greenwald and Miranda need to be protected due to the importance of their testimony on the probe.