Americas

2018

  
A demonstrator fires a homemade mortar toward riot police during a protest against President Daniel Ortega's government in Managua, Nicaragua, on May 28, 2018. Civilians attacked and set fire to a pro-government radio station in Managua on May 28. (Oswaldo Rivas/Reuters)

Civilians attack, set fire to pro-government radio station in Nicaragua

Bogotá, May 30, 2018–Nicaraguan authorities should investigate an attack on a pro-government radio station in Managua, the capital, hold the perpetrators to account, and ensure that journalists covering ongoing unrest in the country can work safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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A lawsuit filed by the Democratic National Committee, photographed in Washington in April, accuses WikiLeaks, the Trump campaign, Russian operatives and others of a conspiracy to undercut Democrats in the 2016 election by stealing and publishing tens of thousands of emails and documents. (AP/Alex Brandon)

By suing WikiLeaks, DNC could endanger principles of press freedom

In 1993, WILK radio host Frederick Vopper broadcast a conversation intercepted by an illegal wiretap and sent anonymously to the Pennsylvania radio station, in which two teachers union officials discussed violent negotiating tactics. The officials sued Vopper, arguing that he should be liable for the illegal wiretap that captured their comments. But the Supreme Court…

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Brazilian truck drivers partially block a road during a nationwide strike to protest rising fuel costs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on May 25, 2018. A radio host in northeastern Brazil has been subject to a series of threats in the first four months of 2018. (Mauro Pimentel/AFP)

Radio host in northeastern Brazil subject to series of threats

Brazilian community radio presenter José Ilton dos Santos told the Committee to Protect Journalists that to date in 2018 he has faced a failed kidnapping attempt in which the assailant threatened to kill him as well as two other threats, the most recent coming on April 13, 2018. Dos Santos described the incidents to CPJ…

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A man reads a newspaper referring to the victory of re-elected President Nicolas Maduro in the Venezuelan presidential election in Caracas, on May 21, 2018. The Venezuelan national telecommunications regulator on May 22 opened an investigation into content published on the website of El Nacional, the country's biggest independent daily newspaper. (Luis Robayo/AFP)

Venezuela opens investigation into independent newspaper

New York, May 24, 2018–The Venezuelan government should halt its investigation of a leading independent newspaper’s website and allow it to publish freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Investigators examine the crime scene where Mexico journalist Juan Carlos Huerta was shot dead in Villahermosa, in Mexico's Tabasco state on May 15. (AFP/Carlos Perez)

Federal authorities in Mexico open investigation into journalist killed in Tabasco state

Mexico City, May 24, 2018–Federal authorities in Mexico have opened an investigation into the killing of radio and television journalist Juan Carlos Huerta, who was shot dead near his home in the Tabasco state capital, Villahermosa, on May 15.

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People attend the YouTube Fanfest in Jakarta, Indonesia, in October 2016. Google released its first YouTube-specific transparency report in May. (Reuters/Beawiharta)

Greater transparency welcome but social media sites should allow independent audits of content takedowns

In recent days, some of the world’s largest tech companies released new transparency reports, opened up their content moderation guidelines, and adopted approaches to fighting pernicious content as they tried to head off government regulation amid concerns about “fake news,” harassment, terrorism and other ills proliferating on their platforms.

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A demonstration calling for LGBT rights in Trinidad and Tobago on April 12. Journalists covering LGBTQ issues say they often face retaliation for their work. (Reuters/Andrea de Silva)

Covering LGBTQ issues brings risk of threats and retaliation for journalists and their sources

To mark the annual International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, CPJ spoke with journalists and news outlets based in Argentina, Iran, Indonesia, the U.S., Uganda, and Russia, about the challenges they face reporting on LGBTQ issues.

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A poster of murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia is carried at a protest against government corruption revealed by the Daphne Project, in Valletta, Malta, on April 29. Reporting on corruption can be a dangerous assignment. (Reuters/Darrin Zammit Lupi)

Make solving journalist murders a priority, CPJ tells US Helsinki Commission

“Being a reporter in much of the world is dangerous work. Being an investigative reporter can be deadly,” CPJ Deputy Executive Director Robert Mahoney told the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, known as the Helsinki Commission, at a briefing in Washington, D.C. today.

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Journalists watch as Marine One, with President Donald Trump on board, lifts off from the White House in March 2018. An already hostile environment for the U.S. press has worsened since Trump came to power. (AP/Susan Walsh)

Joint report on press freedom in US details worsening media environment

Journalists and news organizations in the U.S. face a range of intensifying challenges that threaten their right to freedom of the press, according to a report launched today by international press freedom and free expression advocacy groups to mark World Press Freedom Day.

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El Tiempo cartoonist Matador says he decided to stop publishing his work on social media after receiving a death threat. (María Fernanda Barberi)

Death threat drives Colombian cartoonist Matador offline

During his 15-year career satirizing public figures, Colombia’s best-known editorial cartoonist has made numerous enemies. In his drawings for the Bogotá daily El Tiempo, Julio César González, better known by his pen name, Matador, targets politicians of all stripes.

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2018