Brazil / Americas

  

Brazilian journalist Patrícia Campos Mello sued President Bolsonaro’s son for moral damages – and won

In May of last year, Eduardo Bolsonaro, a Brazilian congressman and the son of President Jair Bolsonaro, made a series of searing accusations against journalist Patrícia Campos Mello on the YouTube channel of far-right media company Terça Livre. He claimed that Campos Mello, a reporter with Brazilian daily Folha de S.Paulo, had attempted to use sex to…

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Data journalists describe challenges of reporting on the true toll of COVID-19

How many people worldwide have been infected by the coronavirus, and how many have died as a result? Finding reliable information on the virus’s toll has proven such a challenging task that it is nearly impossible to answer these basic questions, five data journalists from around the world told CPJ in May and June. In…

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A banner reading “300,000 cases in the world, 15,000 deaths because of coronavirus! Stay at home and save lives!” hangs at the Cidade de Deus favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on April 7, 2020, during the COVID-19 outbreak. Rio’s community journalists face daily challenges informing favela residents about COVID-19. (AFP/Mauro Pimentel)

In Brazil, Rio’s community journalists face daily challenges informing favela residents about COVID-19

Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Gizele Martins and Raull Santiago—community journalists from Rio de Janeiro’s favelas—worked to bring accurate news and information to the local population and to give visibility to their struggles. Their organizations are among dozens of media groups founded by residents of Rio’s favelas and other marginalized areas aiming to challenge stereotypes,…

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Journalists follow a Facebook Live of Jair Bolsonaro, far-right lawmaker and presidential candidate of the Social Liberal Party (PSL), in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, October 7, 2018. After taking office in January, Bolsonaro and his supporters have made Brazilian journalists' jobs more difficult. (Reuters/Sergio Moraes)

Bolsonaro is making Brazilian journalists’ jobs more difficult

First as a candidate and now in his first months as president, Jair Bolsonaro has made his disdain for the media crystal clear. Ministers, supporters, and his family members have followed his lead by no longer offering interviews, attacking and blocking critical reporters on social media, and calling them out as “fake news.”

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Brazil's new president, Jair Bolsonaro, right, talks to the press in Brasília on November 27. Journalists in Brazil say they expect the hostile climate experienced during the election to continue as Bolsonaro takes office. (AFP/Evaristo Sa)

Ahead of inauguration day, Brazilian media braces for Bolsonaro

Long before one of their photographers was harassed on election night in Brazil, the editors at Fortaleza newspaper O Povo were meeting with their readers and staff to discuss the increasingly polarized environment and how to deal with it.

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A man at a news kiosk in Brasilia on October 8 reads about the first round of Brazil's elections. CPJ and other rights groups are calling on candidates to denounce threats being made toward the press. (AFP/Evaristo SA)

CPJ joins call for Brazilian presidential candidates to condemn threats against journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined five other rights organizations to call on Brazilian presidential candidates to denounce the threats and violence against journalists covering the electoral campaign, and urge their supports to stop harassing reporters.

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Radio Yandê founder Renata Machado. Rádio Yandê is one of the few outlets in Brazil to tell the stories of the country's indigenous people on their own terms. (Alfredo Boc Boc)

How Brazil’s ‘ethno-communicators’ are helping indigenous people find their voice

The people who run Radio Yandê, a Brazilian digital portal dedicated to indigenous issues, have many words to define what they do, but even though the site has stories, video and audio, none of those definitions include the word journalist.

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Fans watch the Rio Olympic Games soccer match between Brazil and Germany in August 2016. Brazil's female sports journalists are campaigning for an end to the harassment they face covering matches. (AFP/Tasso Marcelo)

Brazil’s ‘Let her do her job’ campaign demands respect for female sports reporters

On March 25, not long before two of the biggest soccer matches of the season were about to kick off in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, a previously unknown group posted a video online that was of relevance to everyone involved in the game. The group had no name but they had a hashtag…

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A cell phone is used to film a homelessness protest in Sao Paulo in December 2017. Ahead of October elections, police are tasked with combating the spread of fake news. (Reuters/Nacho Doce)

Ahead of elections, Brazil’s police announce plan to crackdown on ‘fake news’

In November last year, Brazilian police stopped a truck on a highway in the center of the country and, after a thorough search, discovered more than six tons of marijuana stashed in false compartments. The truck had the name Romanelli on the side, but police said it was a label designed to confuse and that…

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Brazil's Chamber of Deputies holds a session on April 12 with only two deputies after the Supreme Court announced corruption investigations into a number of politicians. A journalist has questioned why the court released details of his telephone call with a source, despite him not being part of the investigation. (AP/Eraldo Peres)

Released recording highlights polarized atmosphere for Brazil’s political reporters

The release of a private conversation between a well-known journalist and his source has shaken the journalistic community in Brazil and highlighted the increasingly polarized and uneasy terrain in which political reporters work.

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