Leading Latin American journalists — including past and present Nieman Fellows — will gather at Harvard on Nov. 18 for a one-day conference that will take a close look at press freedom in Latin America. The speakers will discuss the difficult challenges many journalists face in their countries, including the killings of colleagues, abductions, intimidation, pressure from government officials or from powerful media moguls, and the absence of legal protection and press freedom laws. They also will present innovative solutions to some problems, including how online news magazines can make a difference.
This event is co-sponsored by the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at HKSG and the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies.
Friday, November 18, 2011, 10:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Rockefeller Center, 1730 Cambridge Street, CGIS South, Belfer Case Study Room S020
Visit the conference website to see the full agenda, speaker bios and a sampling of Latin American stories from Nieman Reports
Conference – Freedom of the Press in Latin America
| 10:30 a.m. | WELCOMING REMARKS: Charlie Clements, Executive Director, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard Kennedy School Stefanie Friedhoff, Special Projects Manager, Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard |
| 10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. | SESSION I: Freedom of Expression in Latin America: Advances and SetbacksGeneral Assessment: Ricardo Trotti, Press Freedom Coordinator, Inter American Press AssociationRound Table: Mónica Almeida, Editor, El Universo, Ecuador, 2009 Nieman Fellow Fernando Berguido, Editor, La Prensa, Panama, 2012 Nieman Fellow Boris Muñoz, Venezuelan Journalist, Fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, 2010 Nieman FellowModerator: June Erlick, Editor-in-Chief, ReVista, Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard |
| 12:15 – 1 p.m. | LUNCH |
| 1 – 2:30 p.m. | SESSION II: Journalism and the Media in Latin America: The Good, the Bad and the PowerfulGeneral Assessment: Pablo Corral Vega, Constitutional Lawyer/Photojournalist, Ecuador, 2011 Nieman FellowRound Table: Claudia Méndez Arriaza, Editor/Staff Writer, El Periódico, and TV co-host “A las 8:45,” Guatemala, 2012 Nieman Fellow Carlos Eduardo Huertas, Investigations Editor, Revista Semana, Colombia, 2012 Nieman Fellow Jaime Abello Banfi, Director General of the Ibero-American New Journalism FoundationModerator: Jeffrey Seglin, Lecturer in Public Policy and Director, Communications Program, Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School |
| 2:30 – 2:45 p.m. | BREAK |
| 2:45 – 4:15 p.m. | SESSION III: The Future of Information in Latin America: Power Struggles in a New Media EnvironmentGeneral Assessment: Rosental Alves, Professor at the School of Journalism, the University of Texas at Austin & Director of the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, 1988 Nieman FellowRound Table: Graciela Mochkofsky, Co-Founder and Editor, el Puercoespín, Argentina, 2009 Nieman Fellow Marcela Turati, Journalist and Author of “Fuego Cruzado” (Crossfire), Mexico Juanita León, Founder and Editor, La Silla Vacia, Colombia, 2007 Nieman Fellow (via teleconference)Moderator: Steve Levitsky, Professor of Government, Harvard University |
| 4:15 – 4:30 p.m. | CLOSING REMARKS: Leonardo Vivas, Coordinator, LATAM Initiative, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy |
| 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. | RECEPTION |