Nicaraguan journalist Kalúa Salazar faces criminal slander suit over corruption reporting
Managua, August 13, 2020 – Nicaraguan authorities should drop the criminal slander charges against journalist Kalúa Salazar, and ensure media outlets can report freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On August 10, three employees of the mayor’s office in El Rama, in southeastern Nicaragua, filed a criminal slander suit against Salazar, the editor-in-chief…
Nicaraguan journalist Gerall Chávez and family receive death threats
Managua, July 28, 2020—Nicaraguan authorities should swiftly and thoroughly investigate the threats sent to journalist Gerall Chávez and his family, and ensure their safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On July 25, Chávez, a co-founder of the digital media outlet Nicaragua Actual, who lives in exile in Costa Rica, received threatening messages on…
YouTube censors independent Nicaraguan news outlets after copyright complaints from Ortega-owned media
Miguel Mora, director of the independent Nicaraguan news outlet 100% Noticias, oversaw its move online after its television broadcast license was revoked by the government in April 2018. He and his colleagues transferred their archives onto two YouTube accounts and used them to continue documenting the government’s repressive response to escalating protests in the months…
Álvaro Navarro on covering COVID-19 in Nicaragua, Central America’s center of virus denial
Over the last two years–since protests and a government crackdown began in April 2018—Nicaraguan journalist Álvaro Navarro and his outlet, news website Artículo 66, have been a vital source of information for people looking for alternatives to the government’s discourse. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he and his team have been on the frontlines, reporting on…
Nicaraguan journalist Emiliano Chamorro faces police harassment and surveillance
Beginning in 2019, Nicaraguan National Police officers have surveilled and harassed Emiliano Chamorro, director of the digital news outlet El Portavoz Ciudadano and a former reporter at the daily La Prensa, and his family, according to the journalist, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview.
Government supporters attack journalists covering funeral in Nicaragua
Amsterdam, March 5, 2020 — Nicaraguan authorities should thoroughly investigate attacks on reporters covering the funeral of writer and poet Ernesto Cardenal and ensure the safety of journalists who report on events of public interest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Nicaragua: A crackdown in four parts
When protests erupted in Nicaragua in April last year, it was clear from the beginning that the country’s media landscape would be a battleground. One day into the unrest, the government ordered cable providers to cut the signals of at least five TV channels. By the end of the year, CPJ had documented attacks, arrests,…
Locked in ‘small graves’: Nicaraguan journalists Mora and Pineda describe their ordeal
Miguel Mora and Lucía Pineda were arrested on December 21, 2018, in the Managua newsroom of 100% Noticias and spent 172 days in prison facing charges of “inciting violence and hate” and “promoting terrorism.” The two journalists spoke to CPJ after their June 11 release. They will receive CPJ’s 2019 International Press Freedom Award in…
CPJ welcomes release of Nicaraguan journalists Miguel Mora and Lucía Pineda
New York, June 11, 2019—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release today of Miguel Mora and Lucía Pineda Ubau, the director and news director of independent digital and cable news channel 100% Noticias; the two journalists had been imprisoned since a police raid on their Managua newsroom on December 21, 2018.