The Senate unanimously approved a law eliminating prison terms for libel and slander by journalists, ten years after the government signed an agreement with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights saying it would do so, La Nación and Página 12 report. read more »

The Chamber of Deputies, supported by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, voted to eliminate prison terms for libel and slander offenses, meeting a long-standing demand from journalism groups, La Nación reports. The law still needs to pass the Senate. read more »

Joe Sharkey, a freelance writer who was aboard a business jet that collided with a Brazilian airliner in 2006, has been sued for defamation in Brazil for his blog posts and interviews about the ordeal, the AFP news agency reports, citing a first-person account Sharkey wrote for Editor & Publisher. read more »

After months of delay, the Chamber of Deputies passed a bill to reform the press law that the Senate approved in December 2008, the Committee to Protect Journalists reports, citing local sources. read more »

Nearly three years after he was accused of slandering a senator, journalist Edinson Lucio Torres still faces charges in a legal process that keeps getting postponed for no apparent reason, the Foundation for Freedom of the Press (FLIP) reports. (See FLIP's original statement in Spanish here.) read more »

The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) says journalist Alvaro Alfonso's conviction for a book that offended a congressman is the result of "outdated criminal laws." IAPA has urged the legislature to conclude its debate on decriminalizing libel and eliminating contempt as a punishable defense. read more »

Fewer major trials on libel and related press issues were held in the U.S. in 2008 than in any other year since 2002, according to the Media Law Resource Center (MLRC), Editor & Publisher (E&P) reports.

But MLRC found that half of those cases ended with the plaintiff winning, a change in the previous trend that had seen press defendants succeeding in such legal battles, E&P reports. read more »

The court has ordered journalist Victor Gutierrez to pay $46,000 to Cecilia Bolocco for alleging in 2001 that the former Miss Universe was having an affair with novelist Paulo Coelho while engaged to Argentine President Carlos Menem, the Associated Press reported.

Gutierrez, who also lost a 1998 lawsuit filed by singer Michael Jackson after accusing Jackson of child molestation, said he would be unable to pay the fine, AP added. read more »

The jailing of TV host Magaly Medina for defaming a soccer player has revived a legislative bill by congressman Javier Valle, who seeks to decriminalize crimes against honor Correo reports. read more »

A judge in Santo Domingo has declared inadmissible a company's lawsuit alleging that journalist Alicia Ortega and the TV program El Informe had violated its right to freedom of expression, Listín Diario reports.

The suit stemmed from El Informe's report on a group of young people who had sued the company, alleging that it had tricked them into believing they were going to be hired, Diario Libre reports. read more »

The news director for Panamericana Televisión, Alejandro Guerrero, was sentenced to a year in prison in connection with his alleged defamation of a Catholic priest, RPP reported. The sentence was suspended, meaning he will not have to serve time in prison.

Francisco Muguiro Ibarra de la Vicaria de Jaén was upset over his portrayal on the the news program "Panorama." Guerrero also must pay two thousand soles (about $700) for civil damages.