After 65 days in committee, a controversial media bill is ready for debate by the full National Assembly, Reuters and El Comercio report. Media outlets and press groups responded by calling the bill an attack on free expression, BBC Mundo adds. read more »

The new acts were revealed firsthand by the country's two largest newspapers and by Radio Corporación, the only opposition radio station that broadcasts nationwide, AFP reports. read more »

Guillermo Zuloaga, president of private TV network Globovisión, said Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has ordered the top prosecutor’s office to arrest him under any pretext to silence the station’s critical coverage, El Nacional and El Nuevo Herald report. read more »

A group of newspapers included an insert saying they want "respect" for the rights of citizens to freely choose their source of news, EFE reports. read more »

President Daniel Ortega compared his situation with that of Barack Obama, saying media outlets are promoting his assassination, El Nuevo Diario reports.

Ignoring recent assaults on the news media and journalists, Ortega said freedom of expression abounds in Nicaragua, and the media “says what they want and make up what they want.” read more »

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said the country needs a media system with less of a monopoly and more news diversity, ANSA reports.

In a TV interview, Lula said a diversity of broadcasters promotes better journalism, more cultural programming, and political debate, all of which support democratic communication. The president's statements were seen by domestic papers as a reference to Globo, the largest media company in Latin America. read more »

Venezuela's communications minister has denied that her government wants a war with Colombia. She accuses the international media of lying about everything President Hugo Chávez says as part of a campaign against him, El Universal and La Jornada report. read more »

President Fernando Lugo's government has purchased ads on 51 community radio stations, none of which are allowed to air commercials and only three of which are operating with the proper legal permits, ABC Color reports. The stations deny those charges. read more »

Private TV network Globovisión – currently embroiled in a tense conflict with Hugo Chávez’s government – insists that federal telecom law exempts it from local taxes, El Universal reports. read more »

The Supreme Court rejected a challenge by the owner of Caracas-based radio station CNB 102.3, which sought to annul the state telecom regulator’s August decision to close the station, AFP reports. read more »

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva repeated criticisms of the press, this time before approximately 3,000 sanitation workers in São Paulo, leading the crowd to boo the reporters covering his speech, Folha de São Paulo and O Globo report. read more »

A paper by economists Rafael Di Tella of Harvard and Ignacio Franceschelli of Northwestern shows a strong correlation between government advertising dollars and front-page newspaper coverage of corruption scandals, Joshua Benton reports for the Nieman Journalism Lab. read more »

Nicaragua's next general elections take place in November 2011, but the two remaining years "will be stormy for media professionals and for Nicaraguans" who disagree with a new presidential term for Daniel Ortega, Douglas Carcache writes in a column for La Prensa. read more »

Stephen Harper, never a darling of his nation’s press corps, has told a Toronto business group, “I tend to watch mainly American news because I don't like to watch Canadian news,” The reason: he doesn’t like seeing the pundits analyze him, the Toronto Star explains. read more »

Competitors of Fox News have showed support for the network, which White House officials maintain is not a legitimate news organization. read more »

Moving forward with the controversial media law approved this month, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has created a new enforcement agency to replace the current state broadcasting regulator. She has also formed a new public radio and TV company, the Buenos Aires Herald reports. The changes are to take effect Dec. 10. read more »

An Inter American Press Association (IAPA) delegation that recently visited Quito says it is deeply concerned about a proposed law that would allow the government to control information and media content. read more »

The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) says its visit will examine recent setbacks to press freedom. The findings will be discussed at the group's General Assembly in Buenos Aires next month. read more »

"The White House is now fighting a three-front war: Iraq, Afghanistan and Fox News," The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz says. read more »

Media companies that oppose the broadcast reform law, which the Senate passed Saturday, say they will fight it in court, and opposition lawmakers will urge the next Congress to rescind or revise it, Reuters reports. read more »