Venezuela Several worrying legal developments in Venezuela curtailed press freedom in 2004. In particular, a new broadcast media law could be used to restrict news coverage critical of the government. Conflict between President Hugo Chávez Frías and the private media continued in 2004. Soon after Chávez was elected in 1998 on promises of a “democratic…
Committee to Protect Journalists This article appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on February 22, 2005 Posted: February 17, 2005 The media was abuzz over comments attributed to CNN news executive Eason Jordan that some of the several dozen journalists killed in Iraq were deliberately targeted by U.S. forces. Pundits, bloggers, columnists, and members of Congress…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that a bill to repeal the crime of desacato (disrespect) has been languishing in Congress for more than a year. We urge you to use the power of your office to expedite the elimination of these anachronistic provisions.
New York, February 23, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that recent statements by Venezuela’s minister of information accusing British journalist Phil Gunson, as well as other foreign and local journalists, of working at the behest of the U.S. government may endanger their physical safety. The accusations followed weeks of heightened tensions between the…
New York, February 22, 2005—A car bomb exploded Sunday night outside the offices of RCN Television and Radio in Cali, Colombia’s third-largest city. A security guard and sound engineer were injured in the blast, which significantly damaged the facilities. About 66 pounds (30 kilograms) of explosives were packed into a blue Renault car and detonated…
FEBRUARY 20, 2005 Posted: February 22, 2005 RCN Television and Radio ATTACKED A car bomb exploded at 10:15 p.m. outside the offices of RCN Television and Radio in Cali, Colombia’s third-largest city. A security guard and sound engineer were injured in the blast, which significantly damaged the facilities.
New York, February 15, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed that a federal appeals court has ruled that two journalists can be jailed for not revealing their confidential sources. A panel of three judges for the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., ruled today that Time magazine, Time White House correspondent Matthew Cooper,…