The emotional consequences of chronic stress impact freedom of expression, said Bruce Shapiro, executive director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma during the opening session of the second day of the 10th annual Austin Forum on Journalism in the Americas. “Exhaustion and emotional crisis are as effective forms of censorship for silencing a journalist as jail sentences or a bullet," Shapiro said. Read more »

“I need a gun,” is what a journalist requested as a safety measure to work in Veracruz, one of the most dangerous places for the Mexican press, according to Daniela Pastrana, of the Mexican organizationJournalists on Foot (Periodistas a Pie) during the 10th Austin Forum on Journalism in the Americas. This year's Forum focuses on Security and Protection for Journalists. Read more »

“Protecting journalists is not a recommendation but an institutional obligation of the state," said the special rapporteur for freedom of expression of the Organization of American States, Catalina Botero, during her presentation at the 10th annual Austin Forum on Journalism in the Americas addressing Security and Protection for Journalists, held May 20-22 in Austin, Texas. Read more »

Latin American journalists increasingly are facing legal threats to freedom of expression, according to experts on the panel "The Legal Threats to Press Freedom: From the Old Criminal Defamation Laws to the Newest Attempts to Regulate the Internet," during the 10th annual Austin Forum on Journalism in the Americas organized by the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas and the Open Society Fondations, held May 20-22 in Austin, Texas. Read more »

One day after reporter Marcos Ávila was kidnapped by three armed men in the Mexican state of Sonora, authorities found the journalist's body strangled and with signs of torture. A message that has been attributed to drug-traffickers was found next to the body, reported the newspaper El Universal on the afternoon of Friday, May 18. Read more »

Mexican authorities of the state of Sonora in northeastern Mexico, confirmed the kidnapping of a police beat journalist who covers local security and justice issues, on Thursday, May 17, reported the Associated Press. Read more »

As the investigation into the kidnapping and killing of Honduran journalist Alfredo Villatoro, continues, the local press is reporting on possible motives and suspects behind the crime. Read more »

Just hours after Honduran President Porfirio Lobo said that kidnapped journalist Alfredo Villatoro was still alive, the secretary of Public Security denied this information and announced that on the night of Tuesday, May 15, authorities discovered the dead body of the prominent radio journalist who worked for HRN, the most prominent Honduran radio station, reported BBC news. Read more »

The Mexican radio station Grupo Fórmula sent a letter to the owner of the newspaper Reforma to clarify the sponsorship payments made by presidential candidate and former governor of the state of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, reported the same radio station. Read more »

Although the headquarters of the Mexican newspaper El Mañana suffered an armed attack in the border city of Nuevo Laredo on the night of Friday, May 11; the reporters of the newspaper managed to finish Saturday's edition and return to work on the next day, reported the newspaper Detroit Free Press. Read more »