BRAZIL With 15 journalists killed for their work in as many years, Brazil is one of the region’s deadliest countries for the press, but court-imposed censorship and official antagonism have also emerged as major issues for the news media. Time and again, local courts issued rulings that barred journalists from reporting on malfeasance, while high-ranking…
New York, November 26, 2007—Brazilian radio host João Alckmin, who reports on corruption in eastern São Paulo state, was shot twice on Thursday; he is in stable condition. The Committee to Protect Journalists today calls on Brazilian authorities to investigate the attack. Alckmin, host of the weekly talk show “Showtime” onlocal Rádio Piratininga, was…
UPDATE September 27, 2007 Original case: September 20, 2007 Amaury Ribeiro Jr., Correio BrazilienseATTACKEDFederal district police arrested four men in Brasilia in connection to Ribeiro’s shooting on September 19. Although one of the detainees confessed to shooting Ribeiro, an investigative reporter for the Brasilia-based daily Correio Braziliense, during an attempted robbery, the reporter said he believed he…
New York, September 20, 2007—Brazilian reporter Amaury Ribeiro Jr. was shot on Wednesday afternoon while investigating a story on organized crime in the outskirts of the capital city of Brasília. The journalist is in stable condition. Ribeiro, an investigative crime reporter for the Brasília-based daily Correio Braziliense, was waiting for a source at a bar…
SEPTEMBER 13, 2007 Posted September 25, 2007 Ricardo Borges, TV Carajás ATTACKED Two individuals fired shots at a car parked outside the home of television reporter Borges in Campo Mourão in the southern state of Paraná, reported the Brazilian press. No one was injured.
UPDATE August 10, 2007 Original case: April 20, 2004 Samuel Romã, Radio Conquista FMKILLEDEurico Mariano, former mayor of Coronel Sapucaia in the southwestern state of Mato Grosso do Sul, was sentenced to 17 years and nine months in prison for hiring the gunmen who in 2004 shot Romã, a host and owner of Radio Conquista…
JULY 18, 2007 Rogério Cassimiro, Folha de São Paulo DETAINED, ATTACKED São Paulo police brutally detained Cassimiro, a photojournalist for the daily Folha de São Paulo, and held him for five hours after he photographed the scene a plane crash that occurred the day before.
New York, May 7, 2007—Brazilian journalist Luiz Carlos Barbon Filho, known for investigative reporting that exposed political corruption, was gunned down on Saturday evening in the southern state of São Paulo. The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Brazilian authorities today to thoroughly investigate the murder and bring those responsible to justice. “We offer our…
Leftists Lean on the Latin American MediaBy Carlos Lauría Latin America’s new leftist leaders may try to portray themselves as good news for the press, using the rhetoric of liberal democracy. But political and media analysts say these recently installed left-wing administrations are deeply rooted in the region’s longstanding culture of authoritarianism.
Versão em português Although freedom of expression is enshrined in Brazil’s 1988 constitution, journalists’ ability to cover the news was impeded by judges whose legal interpretations effectively restricted the press. During the run-up to the October 1 general election, electoral courts banned media outlets from covering corruption allegations against political candidates.