Uruguay recorded 37 cases of threats to freedom of expression during 2014 and the first half of 2015, according to the report ' Journalism and Freedom of Expression in Uruguay. Threat monitoring ', presented on June 18.
Uruguayan journalist and lawyer Edison Lanza was confirmed before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) as the new Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, replacing Colombian Catalina Botero. Lanza began on October 6 a three-year term, taking over the Special Rapporteur's Office at the Organization of American States (OAS).
Chilean journalist Claudia Urquieta from the online newspaper El Mostrador highlighted the importance of Chile’s transparency law as an investigative tool during the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas’ 11th Austin Forum
Uruguay is the most recent country to propose a comprehensive media law to update for the 21st century the norms and regulations overseeing its communications. In May, President José Alberto “Pepé” Mujica sent the proposed bill to the Uruguayan legislature. The Senate is expected to vote on it by the end of the year.
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.