New Ecuadoran legislation seen as a gag on critics
After inspecting a hydroelectric project in northern Ecuador last year, President Rafael Correa complained about the scant press coverage of his visit and suggested it was part of a media blackout. “Did the Ecuadoran media conspire to ignore this important event? It seems like that is the case,” Correa told the crowd at a town…
Family murdered, Veracruz journalist seeks asylum in US
A fellow newspaper photographer phoned him and said he had to get right over to his parents’ home because something very bad had happened. When Miguel Angel López remembers seeing when he got there was “just blood. You can’t understand that much hatred.” He was talking about the murders of his mother, his father–a senior…
For one Brazilian journalist, harsh reality after exile
I have always been convinced that journalism is an instrument that transforms people and realities. I believe in this profession as a means of change, even if this implies some risk. I’ve been beaten almost to death and at another time have had to move to another city because I went to the limit of…
Secrecy, scale of PRISM raise alarms
Government surveillance of electronic communications “should be regarded as a highly intrusive act that potentially interferes with the rights to freedom of expression and privacy and threatens the foundations of a democratic society,” Frank La Rue, U.N. special rapporteur for freedom of expression, warned in a report issued less than two months ago. “States should…
An open plea: Xi and Obama can accomplish one thing
Dear President Xi and President Obama, You will both have received many public and private letters of advice prior to your meeting on Friday and Saturday in California. They will urge you to take up specific issues ranging from military and trade concerns to human rights. That diversity of concern is an indicator of how…
Globovisión quickly eases combative stance after sale
That didn’t take long. Nine days after the pro-opposition TV station Globovisión was sold to businessmen rumored to have close ties to the Venezuelan government, the station’s new leader was welcomed to Miraflores Palace for a cordial sit-down with President Nicolás Maduro.
Medill digital security guide helps fill journalism void
One day, every journalism school in the United States and beyond will offer a full three-credit, 15-week course in digital safety, along with more advanced classes. But that day has not yet come. Only a year ago, Alysia Santo reported in the Columbia Journalism Review that no American journalism school offered formal digital safety training.…
Facebook joins Global Network Initiative
With more than a billion users, Facebook is not only the biggest global social network but also an increasingly important forum for journalists. In some repressive countries it has even served as a publishing platform for journalists whose newspapers or news websites have been closed down. That is why journalists and bloggers should note today’s…