Wednesday, August 1, 2007

LatAm journalists less concerned about telcom monopolies impact on Internet access than narco-trafficers and government censureship.

Journalists from Mexico and Venezuela as well as industry watchers gathered at the National Press Club in downtown Washington, DC, on July 31st to discuss "Latin America and Press Freedom: A Perilous Time."

During the panel discussion, participants focused on the censuring affect that the threat of violence from drug traffickers has on journalists in Mexico and the impact of the television license struggle for RCTV in Venezuela.

It was not until I raised a question that the panel expressed any concern about the telcom monopolies that control Internet access in all Latin America countries and Spain.

I believe the panelists understood the connection between a lack of competition for internet access and censureship, but it was not top of mind.


Latin America and Press Freedom:
A Perilous Time


Tuesday, July 31
5:30 - 7 pm, reception to follow
National Press Club
529 14th St NW, 13th Floor
Washington, DC 20045

Crackdown in Venezuela. Murdered Mexican journalists. Bolivian media under fire. A panel of experts, from a leading press-freedom watchdog to top local journalists, will discuss the turmoil in Latin America’s news media. Please join us for this extremely topical discussion, featuring:

Eduardo Bertoni, executive director, Due Process of Law and former Rapporteur for Freedom of the Press, OAS
Tamoa Calzadilla, investigative journalist for Venezuela’s El Mundo and winner of the 2006 Transparency International/Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS) Investigative Journalism Award (to be confirmed)
Luis Gonzales, Reporter, for Mexican daily, El Imparcial in Hermosillo, Mexico.
Roger Atwood, director of communications, Washington Office on Latin America

Moderated by ICFJ President Joyce Barnathan with welcoming remarks by NPC’s International Correspondents Committee Chair Myron Belkind.

The panel is made possible by generous support from the Scripps Howard Foundation, which is sponsoring a group of 10 reporters from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venezuela who will spend 10 days in Washington on an ICFJ program on journalism ethics.
http://www.icfj.org/events/

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