The building of the Mexican newspaper El Siglo de Torreón was once again the target of another armed attack, making it the third in just a week, reported the Associated Press.
A group of armed men fired at the building of Mexican newspaper El Siglo de Torreón on Tuesday Feb. 26, according to this newspaper published in Northern Mexico. It's the third time the newspaper has been attacked in the last four years. Earlier this month, five of its employees were kidnapped and freed after several hours. No one was hurt during the attack but some employees suffered from anxiety attacks, the newspaper said. On Tuesday afternoon, Torreón mayor Eduardo Olmos visited the newspaper to speak with its directors. They were also expecting the governor of Coahuila state, Rubén Moreira, according to
A radio reporter known for his crime reporting was shot dead in the city of Jaguaribe, Ceará on Friday, Feb. 22, according to the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo. He was the second journalist killed in Brazil this year. The first killed also worked for a radio station in a community north of Rio de Janeiro.
On Saturday, Feb. 23, two gunmen shot and killed a Peruvian photojournalist for the newspaper El Comercio, reported the website Perú 21. The attack sparked debate about the public's security, the risks journalists run and how the media covers violence.
The second witness to the April 2012 murder of Brazilian journalist Décio Sá has died after being shot seven times during an attack in January, said the newspaper Estado de S. Paulo.
Two Colombian journalists claimed they were physically and verbally attacked by a former congressman and his wife in the view of police officers, who did nothing to stop the assault, reported the Colombian Federation of Journalists (FECOLPER in Spanish). The attack took place in Sincelejo, Sucre when the two journalists tried to cover a suspected robbery at the home of former Congressman Héctor Vergara, added FECOLPER.
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).
The Press Freedom Foundation (FLIP in Spanish) celebrated the Day of the Journalist in Colombia on Saturday, Feb. 9, with the release of its 2012 report on the state of press freedom in Colombia. Click here to read the full report (in Spanish).
The Mexican newspaper El Siglo de Torreón announced the release of five of its employees who were kidnapped for 10 hours between the afternoon of Thursday, Feb. 7, and the early morning of Friday, Feb. 8.
The Internal Affairs Office of the Colombian police accused an officer of involuntary manslaughter for the death of journalist Guillermo Quiroz Delgado, reported the newspaper El Universal. The disciplinary hearing of officer Jorge David Pérez took place on Monday, Feb. 4, at the Sucre department police headquarters, the newspaper added.