The Regional Alliance for Freedom of Expression and Information, a coalition of several organizations from 19 countries in Latin America and the U.S., wrote an open letter to senators and other Uruguayan officials expressing its concern over a series of proposed amendments to the country's Law on Public Access of Information. According to the group, the proposed changes are "regressive" in nature and could significantly limit citizens' access to government information.
The Uruguayan government submitted to Parliament on Tuesday, May 22 a bill that would set new telecommunication rules in the country.
Dignitaries, heads of states, journalists and advocates arrived in San José, Costa Rica yesterday, Thursday, May 2, for the welcoming reception of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s World Press Freedom Day conference.
The Uruguayan government has opened up six frequencies to community radio stations after a public call for proposals, said the website Voces.
On Friday, Feb. 1, Uruguayan President José Mujica announced that he would implement new media regulations in 2013, reported the newspaper El Diario. Mujica did not specify which regulations would be implemented but new media rules were a central part of his administration's political agenda, approved in 2012, noted the newspaper.
Close to 89 percent of Uruguayan journalists agreed to establish a code of ethics for their profession, according to a survey from the Uruguayan Press Association, the Center for Archives and Access to Information, and the Media and Society Group, reported the agency Pulsar.
The government of Uruguay ordered the closing of 74 community broadcasters for noncompliance with a law past last Nov. 1, reported the newspaper El País. According to the government, 20 of the broadcasters were proselytizing, added the newspaper.
After circulating for more than 30 years, the Uruguayan newspaper UNoticias announced it is ending its print edition and moving exclusively online as of Monday, Aug. 27, according to the news portal El País.
Journalists received a threatening letter in a sealed envelope at a radio station in Young, Uruguay, on Aug. 7, reported the newspaper El País.
In an editorial published Thursday, Aug. 2, the newspaper El Observador criticized the Uruguayan government of issuing a decree that censors violent images prior to their publication in the news.
An Uruguayan journalist said his cell phone was intercepted, as he noted that his contacts had been receiving calls from unknown persons coming from his phone number, reported the digital newspaper El Espectador on Sunday, March 31.
Police in Uruguay's second largest city, Salto, opened an internal investigation on Jan. 19 to determine responsibility for an attack on the reporter Luis Díaz for the newspaper El Pueblo, reported the publication.