Blogger Takes on Mexico's Drug Gangs by Publishing Vital Community News Catherine Vervier - The Independent
go to original February 1, 2015

Being a citizen journalist in Tamaulipas, one of Mexico’s most violent states, means living a life of extreme risk and expecting very little by way of reward.

For three years, the anonymous administrator of the website Valor por Tamaulipas (Courage for Tamaulipas) has hidden his online identity from everyone he knows and faced a constant barrage of threats against him and his family. He has seen colleagues brutally murdered, while criminal gangs and corrupt officials apparently continue to operate with impunity in his state.

In recent years, Tamaulipas, which borders Texas in the US, has become a black hole for reporting, with traditional media outlets resorting to self-censorship to avoid upsetting the drug cartels that dominate the region. But there is one place where citizens can read about stories that the local newspapers, television channels and radio stations dare not cover.

Fed by a network of anonymous contributors who send in up to 60 tip-offs a day, ValorPorTamaulipas.info publishes vital news in real time on the latest shootouts, abductions and cartel roadblocks. The site has engendered a strong sense of community since its launch in early 2012 and now has more than 520,000 Facebook fans and 116,000 followers on Twitter.

“The site has become a bastion of free speech, providing a voice for those who have no other means of making themselves heard,” the administrator told The Independent on Sunday via encrypted email.

Read the rest at The Independent

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