At a time when independent journalists continue to fear state police harassment for publishing criticism of the government, and others remain in prison for their work, the Communist Party’s official newspaper, Granma, appears to be increasingly willing to print critical ideas. read more »

The “slow-motion” oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico continues to be a major story, but journalists are complaining that BP (the oil company leasing the troubled rig and leading cleanup efforts) and government officials are restricting their efforts to cover the crisis. read more »

A mission from the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) that recently visited Peru to analyze attempts against freedom of expression received a promise from President Alan Garcia that his government would review the procedures that led to the silencing of a radio station in Amazonia, the DPA news agency and El Comercio report. read more »

An appeals court ruled that blogger Dania García would have to pay a $14 fine instead of serving a 20-month prison term for a family dispute, The Associated Press reports. read more »

The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) reports that its delegation will visit the country May 20-21 and will discuss alleged irregularities in the sale of América TV, the cancellation of an Amazonian radio station's broadcast iicense, and crimes against journalists. read more »

The industry groups for Brazil's biggest media outlets are considering creating a code of conduct to regulate journalism practices, Folha de S. Paulo (gated) reports. read more »

Journalists and organizations throughout the world marked World Press Freedom Day Monday (May 3). UNESCO's conference in Australia about defending access to information ended with auma declaration asking countries to enact laws "guaranteeing the right to information in accordance with the internationally-recognized principle of maximum disclosure." See more information about the day's events. read more »

James Risen, a reporter for The New York Times, received a subpoena this week, obliging him to testify about his sources for the 2006 book, “State of War: The Secret History of the C.I.A. and the Bush Administration,” MediaBistro, The New York Times, and others report. read more »

The International Press Institute (IPI) named Lydia Cacho as an IPI “World Press Freedom Hero," to recognize her contributions to press freedom and investigative journalism in the defense of human rights. read more »

Amid growing conflicts with the media, President Fernando Lugo said he is arranging for the UN's special rapporteur and a delegation from the Inter American Press Association to evaluate the country's press freedom in an "impartial and disinterested manner," La Nación reports. read more »

Oscar Sánchez Madan was released from prison this week after serving a three-year term for “social dangerousness,” a vague charge he received after covering a local corruption scandal. He tells Radio Martí that he wants to keep writing about current affairs on the island, including Havana’s human rights violations, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports. read more »

Mónica González Mujica, a veteran journalist whose investigative reporting repeatedly challenged the Pinochet regime, has won a UNESCO prize awarded to those who promote freedom of expression, particularly at the risk of their own lives. read more »

Venezuela's new minister of communication and information, Tania Díaz, swore in the first 75 "communication guerrillas," members of school youth groups formed to “democratize” information and counterattack “the power of private media." See stories (in Spanish) by El Universal and read more »

Should it be illegal for the press to publish names and photos of minors who are charged with a crime? The topic is under debate this week in El Salvador, after the paper La Prensa Gráfica was fined for publishing a sequence of photos showing a 17-year-old stabbing a student on a busy street in San Salvador. read more »

Businessman Aldo Zuccolillo, editor of the newspaper ABC Color, was ordered to pay a $50,000 fine plus interest to indemnify a judge who the newspaper had criticized for acquitting former President Luis González Macchi of embezzlement, ABC Color reports. read more »

Senators from the three main parties are considering harsh new sanctions on news organizations. Three separate bills under study by commissions in both chambers of Congress would guarantee the right of reply in cases where media transmit inaccurate, false, or offensive information, El Universal reports. read more »

Adela Gómez is known for her investigations of political power in Santa Cruz province. Her car was doused with gasoline and set on fire while parked outside her home early Sunday in Caleta Olivia, La Nación newspaper reports. Police say the act was intentional, and managers of the Radio 21 station where she works call it an attack. read more »

At its midyear meeting in Aruba, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) warned of a strong deterioration in press freedom in the region, with the worst wave of violence in many years, the persistent violation of freedom of expression, and the growing approval of laws that restrict the press. read more »

The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) expects to convene 250 editors and publishers from throughout the Americas at its mid-year meeting in Aruba, March 19-22. In addition to its reports on the state of press freedom and freedom of expression, the sessions will examine the role of social networks and the media in earthquake-stricken Haiti, and ways to help news organizations and journalists there. read more »

Federal police intensified their search Friday in northern Peru for José Enrique Crousillat, a former TV network owner who went into hiding this week after the government reversed a decision that pardoned him while he was serving a prison sentence for taking bribes. According to Correo newspaper, Crousillat was believed to be hiding in the Lambayeque region of northwestern Peru. read more »