Study Reveals Dangers to Mexican Journalists Along Northern Border Amanda Ballard - PHYS.org
go to original January 28, 2014

Close-up of a bullet hole left after an attack on a newspaper organization in northern Mexico from October 2011. (Celeste González de Bustamante)

Violence and threats to many Mexican journalists reporting along the U.S. border has led to less investigative and crime reporting, a phenomenon described as "self-censorship," the UA researchers found.

From intimidation threats to assassinations, the daily danger faced by many Mexican journalists is the focus of a newly published University of Arizona research study.

The study ranks Mexico as one of the most dangerous places in the world for reporters to work.

"Silencing Mexico: A Study of Influences on Journalists in the Northern States" (PDF), published by The International Journal of Press/Politics in November, focuses on five of Mexico's states along the U.S. border, an area that has experienced a surge of conflict in recent years due to organized crime warring over illicit drug and human smuggling routes.

The UA School of Journalism's Jeannine Relly, assistant professor, and Celeste González de Bustamante, associate professor, authored the study. They interviewed 39 Mexican journalists working in the area. Under the promise of anonymity, many interviewees shared stories of violence against themselves and their colleagues and threats against their families.

Read the rest at PHYS.org

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