No more violence against journalists," reads a sign held by a protester during a demonstration outside the Interior Ministry in Mexico City on May 16, 2017. (AP/Rebecca Blackwell)
No more violence against journalists," reads a sign held by a protester during a demonstration outside the Interior Ministry in Mexico City on May 16, 2017. (AP/Rebecca Blackwell)
The Torch

Mexican journalists face physical and digital attacks

The Torch is a weekly newsletter from the Committee to Protect Journalists that brings you the latest press freedom and journalist safety news from around the world. Subscribe here.

Last Wednesday, Hiram Moreno, a Mexican journalist enrolled in a federal protection program, was the victim of a gun attack in Oaxaca state when an unidentified man shot him as Moreno left a convenience store. Just a few days earlier, radio reporter Santiago Barroso was shot dead in Sonora state.

Mexico currently ranks seventh on CPJ’s index of countries where journalists are slain and the killers go free.

CPJ’s North America Researcher Avi Asher-Schapiro looks at spyware maker NSO Group’s efforts to spin reports linking it to the surveillance of journalists. Analysis by Citizen Lab, Amnesty International, and other human rights groups has shown that journalists were targeted by Pegasus, a spyware tool that NSO Group markets and has sold to governments with questionable human rights records. Just this month, researchers reported that Griselda Triana, the wife of Mexican journalist Javier Valdez, was targeted immediately after her husband’s murder in 2017. Triana shared her reactions to the reports in a live Facebook interview with CPJ (in Spanish).

Global press freedom updates

  • Over the next three months, there are presidential elections in Ukraine, and general elections in India, South Africa, and Guatemala. CPJ’s Emergencies Response Team has issued a safety advisory for journalists covering elections
  • CPJ welcomes release of Saudi blogger after 10 months, calls for charges to be dropped
  • Mauritania jails bloggers Abderrahmane Weddady and Cheikh Ould Jiddou on false news charges
  • Two journalists held in pretrial detention since February in Comoros
  • CPJ calls on Slovakia not to adopt press law amendment
  • Turkmenistan journalist Soltan Achilova barred from traveling abroad
  • Read the latest Turkey Crackdown Chronicle, CPJ’s weekly round-up of press freedom violations in the country
  • Zambia suspends independent TV broadcaster for 30 days
  • CPJ calls on Maldives to empower commission on enforced disappearances and murders
  • Philippines issues arrest warrants against Rappler’s Maria Ressa, other executives
  • British journalist in Albania targeted in smear campaign

Spotlight

The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker found there has been an increase in physical and digital attacks on journalists in the United States, and CPJ's reporting has found that female journalists face many overlooked challenges. (Jack Forbes)
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker found there has been an increase in physical and digital attacks on journalists in the United States, and CPJ’s reporting has found that female journalists face many overlooked challenges. (Jack Forbes)

As part of our efforts to improve CPJ’s safety resources, we are currently collecting feedback from women and gender non-conforming journalists based in the U.S. and Canada. Journalists are encouraged to provide feedback before March 31. Explore more of our reporting on the intersection of gender and press freedom and information on our Emergencies Response Team here.

What we are reading

So far in 2019

At least 4 journalists have been killed worldwide in relation to their work. Explore our data.

Visit the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker database for info on press freedom violations in the U.S.

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