The Fragile State of Media Freedom in Latin America

"The recent declines in this region, which had previously seen such broad advances in media freedom, are a stark reminder that such freedoms are fragile and must be nurtured and defended when they come under attack."

This blog entry describes a range of negative developments over the past decade that "have left media freedom on the defensive in much of Central and South America." It highlights some data shared in the Freedom of the Press 2012" report. For example, in Hispanic America, meaning the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking parts of the Americas, only 3 (15%) of the countries were rated Free, and just 1.5% of the population lived in Free media environments.

"Also worrying are the trends over time. Press freedom blossomed in the Americas in the 1990s, as military governments gave way to civilian regimes, but the region has seen considerable backsliding during the past decade. Violence against journalists has increased, legal cases have been used to intimidate critical voices, and state funding and advertising have been directed toward progovernment media outlets while oppositionist outlets have been shuttered by regulatory controls and other forms of harassment. In each of the past five years, the regional average score for the Americas has declined. It is the only region globally to have exhibited such a pattern."

To cite an example from a specific country in the region, Mexico fell to Not Free status in 2010 and continued to suffer from high levels of criminal violence in 2011, the year covered by the 2012 report. The violence affected both professional journalists and communicators who used online social media to bypass self-censorship in the traditional press. Other cases of sustained decline are described here as being the result of official hostility toward the press, particularly from the executive branch.

The blog concludes with the argument that "[s]ustained advocacy by local and international monitors to highlight violations is essential, as are the ongoing efforts to encourage positive legal reforms on freedom of information, as in Brazil; the decriminalization of libel, as in El Salvador; and combating impunity, as in Colombia."