In Mexico, two bills would protect journalists
New York, April 20, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists lauds the Mexican Chamber of Deputies’ passage on Tuesday of a bill that would eliminate criminal defamation, libel, and slander laws from federal statute books. CPJ also welcomes the chamber’s approval of a second measure that allows journalists to withhold from authorities information about sources.
Photographer gunned down outside his home
New York, March 10, 2006—Mexican photographer Jaime Arturo Olvera Bravo was shot to death Thursday outside his home in La Piedad in the central state of Michoacán. The special prosecutor for crimes against journalists has opened a preliminary inquiry and will work with state authorities to establish if the murder was related to Olvera’s work.…
Journalist convicted on defamation charges
New York, March 3, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Tuesday’s criminal defamation conviction of Mexican journalist Isabel Arvide for a 2001 article alleging links between state officials and organized crime. Judge Octavio Rodríguez Gaytán, of the Second Penal Court in the state of Chihuahua, sentenced Arvide to one year in prison and ordered her…
Attacks on the Press in 2005: Headlines
January 11: A killing in Colombia reinforces self-censorship — Gunmen kill radio news host Julio Hernando Palacios Sánchez as he drives to work in Cúcuta. Attacked from all sides, the Colombian press censors itself to an extraordinary degree, CPJ later reports. Probing journalists are killed, detained, or forced to flee. Verified news is suppressed, and…
Attacks on the Press 2005: Americas Analysis
All the News That Can’t Be PrintedBy Carlos LauríaGood investigative reporters know more than they can write. The problem in some Latin American countries is that good reporters are barely writing anything. From Brazil to the U.S.-Mexico border, journalists are looking over their shoulders before sitting down at their computers or going on the air.…
Attacks on the Press 2005: Mexico
MEXICO Journalists working along the U.S.-Mexico border were under siege from organized criminals targeting them for coverage of drug trafficking. One reporter was killed for her work and another went missing, making northern Mexico one of the most dangerous spots for journalists in Latin America. Facing intimidation and attack, journalists in the northern states reported…