Two journalists shot dead in Guatemala, another wounded
Bogotá, Colombia, March 11, 2015–Two gunmen shot dead two journalists and injured a third in Guatemala on Tuesday, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Guatemalan authorities to carry out a thorough investigation into the attack and ensure the perpetrators are held to account.
Paraguayan journalist gunned down in Brazil
São Paulo, March 6, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder on Thursday of Paraguayan radio journalist Gerardo Ceferino Servían Coronel, who was shot to death in Ponta Porã, a small town on the Brazil side of the Brazil-Paraguay border.
Second Colombian journalist murdered in less than three weeks
New York, March 3, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder of Colombian radio journalist Edgar Quintero and calls on authorities to thoroughly investigate all motives and hold the killers to account. Quintero is the second journalist to have been killed in fewer than three weeks in Colombia.
Reporters covering Nicaragua waterway project obstructed by lack of information
When Nicaragua began preliminary work on an interoceanic waterway designed to handle ships too big for the Panama Canal, some of the foreign correspondents who had flown in to cover the December groundbreaking were left high and dry.
Ecuador issues sanctions for cartoon mocking congressman
On February 13, 2015, Ecuador’s media oversight commission, the Superintendency of Information and Communication (SUPERCOM), ordered the Guayaquil-based daily El Universo to publish an apology in connection with a cartoon drawn by Xavier Bonilla, a cartoonist known by his penname Bonil, which was published on August 5, 2014, according to news reports.
In fight against extremism, press freedom must not be compromised
In an effort to counter extremists and militant groups who use a mix of violence and social media to spread their message, a summit was held in Washington, D.C. this week to discuss how to counter violent extremism. While there is little denying that these groups must be tackled, an approach must be found that…
Video: Bob Simon recounts 1991 capture in Iraq
When I heard the news last week that Bob Simon had died, I immediately thought back to an interview I had done with him in 2010. It was at an event called the “Courage Forum.,” an ideas festival which took place the Museum of Modern Art hosted in New York City. It featured speakers who…
Radio station owner gunned down in Colombia
Bogotá, February 18, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder on Saturday of a Colombian radio station owner and calls on authorities to identify the motive and ensure the perpetrators are held to account. Luis Antonio Peralta Cuéllar was a journalist and an aspiring politician who often broadcast reports criticizing political corruption in the…
TrollBusters app takes on those seeking to silence women writers
Eight years ago Michelle Ferrier was forced to quit her job as a newspaper columnist and move to a different state after being targeted by racist hate mail. But Ferrier has managed to turn a traumatic experience into an empowering one by inspiring a team of tech-savvy media professionals and entrepreneurs to create TrollBusters, a…