On September 13, the Guatemalan government posted photographs of an unpublished article planned to run three days later on the newspaper elPeriódico, raising questions as to whether or not the government had been spying on the newsroom.
Charges of espionage that could result in a 30-year jail sentence were brought against two journalists of the Bolivian newspaper La Razón for publishing alleged state secrets leaked to a reporter by an anonymous source.
During peace negotiations with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the Colombian government spied on communications between the group’s spokespeople and international journalists who were covering the events, Univisión reported.
Costa Rican newspaper Diario Extra has accused the country’s judicial authorities of spying on one of its reporters. Freedom of expression organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) described the case as similar to Associated Press’ experience last year with the United States government.
Peruvian investigative reporter Mónica Vecco filed a criminal complaint against five persons -- among them politicians and media directors -- for allegedly having broken into her email and using several messages out of context to accuse her of helping a fugitive escape the country. According to her complaint, the actions were part of a plan to discredit her and, ultimately, the recent congressional and journalistic efforts to investigate alleged acts of corruption committed during the administration of former Peruvian President Alán García.
The Committee to Protect Journalists highlighted last week the cyber-attack against the websites of the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas and the International Symposium for Online Journalism, which knocked down the sites for two weeks.
The Cuban government accused the U.S. of paying millions of dollars to Florida journalists to make a defamation campaign against five Cuban agents jailed for life in 2001 on espionage charges, according to the news agency EFE.
Authorities from the Dominican Public Ministry raided the offices of the digital newspaper El Siglo 21 and two residences of journalist Guillermo Gómez on Feb. 10, reported the newspaper El Nacional. Allegedly, José Ángel Gómez Canáan, the journalist's son, participated in a spy network accused of hacking into the e-mail accounts of First Lady Margarita Cedeño de Fernández and several high-ranking bank executives, reported Listín Diario.
On Thursday, July 28 the Bolivian Senate approved the controversial Telecommunications, Information Technology and Communication Law. The law gives the state majority control of electronic media, according to local press.
In the midst of the bribery and phone-hacking scandal involving CEO Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., media analysts continue to debate the ethical challenges of reporting. Are their limits to what a journalist should do in the search for a scoop?