This content was published on March 22, 2022 4:31 pm March 22, 2022 4:31 pm
Rio de Janeiro, March 22 (EFE) . Brazil registered 145 cases of nonlethal violence against 230 journalists or media companies in 2021, a number slightly lower than in 2020 (150 cases) but maintaining the average of 2.8 incidents per week , according to a report released this Tuesday by the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters (ABERT).
The report on “violations of freedom of expression”, which the institution produces annually, showed that violence against the press in Brazil fell slightly between 2020 and 2021, but that there are still a number of cases that are considered alarming and that country to be included for the first time in the “red” list of the press freedom ranking of the organization Reporters Without Borders.
Despite the decrease in the number of incidents of nonlethal violence against the press, the number of journalists or media outlets targeted by such attacks increased by 21.69% over the past year, from 189 in 2020 to 230 in 2021.
According to the study, Brazil recorded no murders of journalists in 2021, which had happened only once (2019) since ABERT started collecting the statistics a decade ago, but the number of attacks on communicators increased from zero in 2019 to four 2020 and eight in 2021, mostly with firearms.
ABERT clarified that it refrained from including the case of radio host Wéverton Rabelo Froes, who was shot dead in April last year, in the report as a murder because the crime is still under investigation and the cause of his death has not been established with theirs related to professional practice.
“ABERT hopes that this is not another unsolvable journalist murder case and recalls that any threat against a communications professional must be investigated and the necessary action taken,” the association said.
The company cited the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) report, which put the number of journalists killed around the world at 55 in the past year and cited Latin America as one of the most vulnerable regions for the press.
He also cited Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Ranking, which last year placed Brazil 111th out of 180 countries analyzed, placing the Latin American giant in the “red zone” of that organization’s list for the first time.
“It’s a shameful thing. For the first time, Brazil has entered the red zone of the world rankings. It was the fourth consecutive year that the country has lost positions, this time four boxes, from 107th to 111th place. It is the worst position for the country since preparations for the classification began in 2002,” said ABERT President Flavio Lara Resende.
The company also cites a study by Bites in its report, which shows that in 2021, an average of 4,000 virtual attacks on the press per day were registered in Brazil, well below the 2020 average (7,900 attacks per day).
This study categorizes derogatory, scornful, or rude remarks related to the press, journalists, or news in comments on social networks as attacks.
According to the ABERT report, the main forms of nonlethal violence against the press in Brazil last year were criminal offenses, with 53 cases (up from 59 in 2020); followed by physical assaults (which fell from 39 cases in 2020 to 34 in 2021); Intimidation (up from 25 to 26) and threats (up from 10 to 12). EFE
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