Drug Cartels, Corrupt Officials and a Climate of Impunity Silence Journalists in Mexico Daniela Pastrana, Oscar Cantu Murguia, Sandra Patargo and Javier Garza Ramos - Al Jazeera
go to original April 9, 2017

Intimidation, killings and censorship are just some of the tactics used to muzzle journalists in Mexico, but is the media business in crisis, too? (Al Jazeera English)

After journalist Miroslava Breach became the third reporter to be killed in a month, El Norte newspaper published its final edition and shut down its printing presses.

The reason given had nothing to do with digital technology or slumping ad revenues - the things with which newspapers around the world are struggling. Its owner said he was closing his paper after 27 years because continuing to report the news in Mexico is just too dangerous.

Mexico is the deadliest country for reporters in the western hemisphere. But what galls journalists most is that the murders of their colleagues routinely go unpunished. Charges are few, prosecutions are rare, and convictions almost never happen.

That culture of impunity has many in the media theorising that police and the prosecutors who should be targeting drug barons are, in fact, working for the wrong side.

Media outlets in Mexico - El Norte included - are financially dependent on state governments for lucrative advertising contracts, which means that they may be compromised in their work as well.

Between the conflicts affecting the various players - allegations of official corruption, the ever-present threat of violence from the drug cartels, and a mounting death toll - there's a surplus of news stories in Mexico and one fewer paper to report on them.

"Impunity is really the fuel that keeps aggressions running. And that is because any person who right now wants to impose censorship on journalists, on the media, by violent means, knows that he can get away with it. And the way that he knows that is because the person who did it before him got away with it," says Javier Garza Ramos, former editor, Siglo de Torreon.

Read the rest at Al Jazeera

Related: Journalists in Mexico Killed in Record Numbers – Along with Freedom of Speech (FoxNews.com)

Related: Journalist Seeking Asylum for Facing Death Threats Detained at US Border for 60 Days (teleSUR)

Related: Freedom of the Press Mexican Style: Open Season on Mexico's Journalists (Al Dia)

Related: Mexico Press Freedom: Murders of Journalists Continue with Impunity (Mexico Voices)

Related: Shadow of Organized Crime Hovers over Wave of Mexico Journalist Killings (Insight Crime)

Related: If You Want to Murder a Journalist in Mexico, Chances Are You'll Get Away with It (teleSUR)

Related: Journalists' Safety: Tips for Staying Safe While Covering Violent Protests (International Center for Journalists)

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