South America

May 3, 2024

World Press Freedom Day

Between May 2 and 4, Chile and UNESCO will host the 31st World Press Freedom Day Conference in Santiago. This year's theme is "A Press for the Planet: Journalism in the Face of the Environmental Crisis."

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"Mercury Exposure Widespread Among Yanomami Tribe In Amazon, Report Finds"

"Many Yanomami, the Amazon’s largest Indigenous tribe in relative isolation, have been contaminated with mercury coming from widespread illegal gold mining, according to a report released on Thursday by Brazil’s top public health institute."

Source: AP, 04/05/2024

"Reading The Ruins Of Amazon Fires, Scientists See Crisis Ahead"

"The Amazon is battling record early-year fires, fuelling fears of a worse climate crisis to come as blazes kill vegetation that is key to absorbing planet-warming carbon dioxide. Fanned by drought, high winds and human felling, the forest is suffering unprecedented fires this early in the year, satellite images show, with the dry season still to reach critical parts of the Amazon."

Source: Thomson Reuters Fdn., 03/26/2024

South American Lithium Mines Threaten Native Water, Culture And Wealth

"In the “lithium triangle” – a region spanning Argentina, Chile and Bolivia – native communities sit upon a treasure trove of the stuff: an estimated trillion dollars in lithium."

Source: AP, 03/14/2024

With A Million Cases Of Dengue So Far This Year, Brazil Declares Emergency

"The generator powering the medical facility had blown and the 29 members of the Brazilian Air Force in charge had to change it before they could see patients again. Medical professionals who'd been trained to care for dengue patients, they expected to attend to up to 600 people with suspected cases per day. In the first 24 hours after the doors opened on Feb. 5, they saw 1,300. The generator couldn't keep up."

Source: NPR, 03/06/2024

#SEJSpotlight: Jocelyn Tabancay Duffy, Reporter and Video Producer, Nexus Media News

Meet SEJ member Jocelyn Tabancay Duffy! Jocelyn is an environmental journalist and video producer based in Oakland, CA. Her work has been featured on The Guardian, NBC, The Intercept, Nexus Media News, KALW, and PBS. She is currently working on documentaries exploring natural gas and plastics' impact on human health.

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