José Luis Ortega Mata

President Vicente Fox's historic election in 2000 marked the end of the long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party's (PRI) domination of the country and its media. But the honeymoon between the president and the media ended in 2001 with increasingly critical coverage that reflected the public's frustration with the slow pace of reforms under the new government.

New York, January 3, 2002--A total of 37 journalists were killed worldwide as a direct result of their work in 2001, a sharp increase from 2000 when 24 were killed, according to CPJ research. At least 25 were murdered, almost all with impunity.

The dramatic rise is mainly due to the war in Afghanistan, where eight journalists were killed in the line of duty covering the US-led military campaign and a ninth journalist died of wounds sustained there two years ago. This was the highest death toll recorded for a single country since 1999, when 10 journalists were killed in Sierra Leone.

Nueva York, 3 de enero de 2002 -- Un total de 37 periodistas fueron asesinados en todo el mundo como resultado directo de su labor en el 2001, un brusco incremento en relación con el año 2000, cuando 24 fueron asesinados, según las investigaciones del Comité para la Protección de los Periodistas (CPJ, por sus siglas en inglés). Por lo menos 25 de ellos fueron asesinados, casi todos con impunidad.

El dramático aumento se debe principalmente a la guerra en Afganistán, donde ocho periodistas murieron cumpliendo su deber al cubrir la campaña militar encabezada por los Estados Unidos, y un noveno periodista murió de heridas que recibió en ese país hace dos años. Este es el mayor saldo de víctimas que se haya registrado en un solo país desde 1999, cuando 10 periodistas fueron asesinados en Sierra Leona.

New York, March 12, 2001---In a recent letter to Arturo González Rascón, Attorney General of the State of Chihuahua, CPJ expressed its concern about the murder of José Luis Ortega Mata, the editor of the weekly Semanario de Ojinaga, based in Ojinaga, Chihuahua State.

Ortega Mata, 37, was shot twice in the head at close range with a .22 caliber firearm on the evening of February 19, according to local press reports. The journalist's minivan was found with its engine running and the lights on. His wallet and cameras were not taken, making robbery an unlikely motive.