Mexico / Americas

Various news outlets had coverage over the weekend of press freedom in Russian in light of last week’s brutal assault on Mikhail Beketov, a Moscow newspaper editor who still remains comatose in a local hospital. The Chicago Tribune as well as the UK-based newspapers The Guardian and The Sunday Herald are running stories about the dangers…

CPJ’s Monica Campbell is interviewed today on NPR’s “People and Places” about the recent murder of crime reporter Armando Rodriguez and the worsening situation for Mexican journalists. She is joined by journalist Arturo Chacon.Visit NPR.org to listen to the report.

New York, November 20, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Mexican authorities today to protect journalists in the border town of Ciudad Juárez after one journalist was forced to flee and another was murdered. 

Making headlines today across the English and Spanish-language press is the brutal murder of Mexican crime reporter Armando Rodríguez.

New York, November 13, 2008–Veteran Mexican crime reporter Armando Rodríguez was shot to death this morning while in his car in the border city of Ciudad Juárez. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned Rodríguez’s killing and called on authorities to conduct a prompt and thorough investigation. 

We issued the following statement in response to the murder of Mexican reporter Armando Rodríguez, who covered crime for the Ciudad Juárez-based daily El Diario in the state of Chihuahua. Rodriquez was shot to death this morning by an unidentified gunman, according to local press reports…

Mexico’s special prosecutor for crimes against journalists has responded to CPJ’s October 24 letter expressing concerns about the investigation into the murder of U.S. filmmaker Bradley Will. The prosecutor’s response leaves much unresolved.

Dear Mr. Medina Mora: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by developments in the criminal investigation into the October 27, 2006, killing of U.S. journalist Bradley Roland Will in Oaxaca. The recent indictment of three protesters ignores considerable evidence indicating that pro-government gunmen were behind the killing.

Monday, October 27, marks the second anniversary of the killing in Mexico of Bradley Roland Will, a U.S. documentary filmmaker. Will was shot while covering clashes between anti-government protesters and government supporters in the southern state of Oaxaca. The investigation into the killing has become a source of great concern.

The Maria Moors Cabot Prize is one of the greatest honors conferred on journalists covering Latin America. The black tie gala, which took place last Thursday at Columbia University’s majestic Low Library, is like an annual reunion for journalists like me who have worked in the region.