Volume 23, Issue 1 (2016) How Free are Media in the Americas Today?

Guest-edited by Raul Reis, Dean of FIU’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Volume 23 takes an in-depth look at a key challenge to democracy: freedom of the press. Despite the significant progress made over the past two decades to consolidate political rights and civil liberties in the region, the situation facing media professionals is more precarious; news outlets are closed, journalists’ ability to inform the public intensifies, and violence and intimidation targets them. Gag orders and legislation have increased the costs of reporting on important issues such as corruption, crime and violence. As a result, self-censorship has become the norm, with serious implications for the entire hemisphere.