A Report on Violence in Mexico Brings Its Own Perils, and Little Protection Lyndal Rowlands - Inter Press Service
go to original March 2, 2015

Journalist Anabel Hernandez Discusses Cartel Violence in Mexico (CCTV)

Organized criminals in Mexico are forcing the media to stop reporting on crime, by turning their violence against journalists.

With the Mexican state offering journalists little protection, the resultant drop in freedom of information has contributed to a heightened sense of insecurity in the country.

Claire San Filippo, head of Reporters Without Borders’ Americas desk, told IPS that journalists in Mexico are self-censoring due to threats and violence, but also because violence against journalists is rarely punished by the state.

“It is of tremendous concern for information freedom because people are saying ‘we are not going to cover certain areas’, fearing revenge and not trusting that the state is going to be able to protect them.”

San Filippo says that the state bears the primary duty under international law to protect journalists.

...The first two months of 2015 have already seen marked violence and intimidation towards journalists, including kidnappings and threats.

Read the rest at Inter Press Service

Related: Murder of Moisés Sánchez an Example of Mexico’s Attitude to Journalists (Irish Times)

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