Headlines or Headstones: Mexico Journalists Face Dire Choice Ildefonso Ortiz - The Monitor
go to original May 24, 2012

Caught between drug gangs and widespread corruption among police and government officials, many journalists have chosen self-censorship to stay alive. What is making Mexico one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalists, and what does it mean for the country's democracy? Guests: Luis Horacio Najera, Dolia Estevez, Ricardo Gonzalez. (Al Jazeera)

REYNOSA - Constant threats and reprisals have created a self-imposed muzzle on Mexican news outlets when it comes to stories about organized crime in the northern Mexican cities.

The constant threats of retaliation, attacks and manipulation of the media by organized crime have created an environment similar to working in a designated war zone, said Celeste Gonzalez, an assistant professor at the School of Journalism and Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Arizona.

Gonzalez said the only difference between reporting in Mexico and a designated war zone is the lack of rules of engagement and operational procedures.

“Journalists and newsroom editors are making up the rules as they go along in order to stay alive,” said Gonzalez, who is researching the current conditions of journalists in Mexico. “Journalists in Mexico are experiencing unprecedented levels of violence and repression, and it appears that in the run-up to the presidential election, the violence in various parts of the country and the repression against journalists and human rights workers has intensified.”

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