Lately, we have come to expect violence against journalists in certain regions, such as the Middle East. But here at CPJ, 2011 has also been troubling for the number of journalists killed in an entirely different part of the world, the Americas.
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Honduras
With another journalist murdered in Honduras on Tuesday, bringing the total killed since March to eight, the country's press is understandably jittery. In a new documentary jointly produced by the Inter-American Press Association and the Video Journalism Movement, Carlos Mauricio Flores, the executive director of Tegucigalpa-based El Heraldo newspaper says, "We journalists are living in uncertainty and fear."
In a letter to the editor published Sunday in The New York Times, Honduran minister on human rights Ana Pineda took issue with the findings of CPJ's recent special report on the murders of seven local reporters this year. Our report, which the Times detailed in a July 27 story, found a pattern of botched and negligent investigative work by Honduran authorities, which has fostered a climate of impunity in attacks on the press. In her letter, Pineda asserted that "all cases have been fully investigated," but her claim appears to be flawed.
Three days after the Honduran interim government led by Roberto Micheletti lifted a September 27 decree that allowed them to shut down Radio Globo and Canal 36, broadcasters loyal to ousted President Manuel Zelaya, the two stations were still prevented from resuming normal transmissions, according to local and international news reports.
Early Monday morning, military and police personnel forcefully shut down the Tegucigalpa-based Radio Globo under a decree by the de facto government that suspends civil liberties, CPJ reported. Today, Honduran and international media outlets said the radio station was being broadcast online.
The ongoing political crisis following the ouster of President Manuel Zelaya on June 28 has damaged the press freedom climate in Honduras. Complying with orders by caretaker leader Roberto Micheletti, Honduran security forces shut down local broadcasters, blocked transmissions of international news networks, and briefly detained journalists in the aftermath of the coup, CPJ research shows. But part of the damage was self-inflicted: Some media outlets have slanted coverage to favor the coup leaders.
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