Mexico / Americas

  

Female journalists covering Mexican feminist protests face harsh police response

Lizbeth Hernández, a freelance journalist based in Mexico City, is documenting a rising women’s protest movement against gender-based violence in the country. According to federal data from the Secretariado Ejecutivo del Sistema Nacional de Seguridad Pública (SESNSP), deadly violence against women reached record heights in 2019; more than 1,000 women were murdered because of their gender, an…

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Despite convictions, justice for murdered journalists in Mexico remains abstract

Some recent convictions in the cases of journalists murdered in Mexico may give the impression that the state is making significant progress in the fight against impunity. While CPJ has welcomed the convictions as an important step, the outlook for breaking the cycle of impunity and violence in Mexico has grown more dim under President…

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Griselda Triana, the wife of slain journalist Javier Valdez, attends his memorial service at a funeral parlor in Culiacan, In Sinaloa state, Mexico, on May 16, 2017. Triana wrote a letter calling for justice in his case on May 15, 2020, the third anniversary of his murder. (Reuters/Jesus Bustamante)

On third anniversary of his murder, Javier Valdez’s wife calls for justice in open letter

Today, on the third anniversary of the murder of her husband, Mexican reporter Javier Valdez Cárdenas, journalist Griselda Triana wrote an open letter calling for justice and describing the ordeal of her family in the wake of his killing. The letter was published in several Mexican news outlets and by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

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A journalist is seen in Mexico City on April 8, 2020. Mexican journalists recently told CPJ that a lack of equipment and government obstruction are among their bigget concerns while covering the COVID-19 pandemic. (AFP/Pedro Pardo)

In Mexico, reporters covering COVID-19 face equipment shortages and government obstruction

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic struck Mexico, the country was already one of the most dangerous in the world for journalists, according to CPJ research.

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Graffiti shows the likeness of murdered photojournalist Rubén Espinosa and the eyes and names of the other four victims, on the wall of Mexico City attorney general's headquarters in Mexico City, in July 2016. Deadly violence against journalists is rare in the capital, but reporters covering organized crime in the city say threats are on the rise. (AP/Marco Ugarte)

Threats draw near, damaging Mexico City’s reputation as safe haven for reporters

Emir Olivares was almost too stunned to speak when, on December 6, he found two men in the bedroom of his apartment in Mexico City.

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Flowers and crosses bear the names of journalists and human rights defenders murdered in the first three months since President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office, in Mexico City in February 2019. At least two of the journalists murdered for their work in 2019 were enrolled in a safety protection mechanism. (AP/Rebecca Blackwell)

When it comes to protecting journalists, Mexico’s safety mechanism comes up short

Gildo Garza sighs when he speaks of the institution that is supposed to protect him. “I feel disappointed, depressed, desperate, and alone,” he said. “I no longer have any hope in a system that was supposed to help me build up a new life or get my old life back.”

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Cameras and a photo of Miroslava Breach are laid out as part of a tribute to the journalist on the second anniversary of her murder. Mexico's investigation into her killing is flawed, a report on the journalist has found. (AFP/Herika Martinez)

‘Project Miroslava’ finds flaws in Mexico’s investigation of journalist murder

An in-depth investigation into the March 23, 2017 killing of Mexican journalist Miroslava Breach Velducea found grave omissions, flaws and irregularities in authorities’ investigation of the murder.

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Patricia Espinosa, the sister of Rubén Espinosa, a photographer murdered in 2015, and Alejandro Encinas, undersecretary for human rights, population, and migration, speak at CPJ's press freedom summit. (Ian Garciafigueroa)

Press freedom summit urges Mexico to reform journalist protections

On June 18, more than 400 people converged in Mexico City for CPJ’s Mexico Press Freedom Summit. Energized by a sense that the country is at a point of profound political change under the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the conference delved into the threats for Mexican journalists.

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A vendor sells newspapers showing the results of Mexico's presidential elections, in Mexico City, in July 2018. Mexico's new government has said it will address the opaque practice of government advertising in media. (AFP/Ulises Ruiz)

Mexico’s press question president’s commitment to press advertising reform

When Andrés Manuel López Obrador won Mexico’s presidential elections last year with a promise to drastically cut the millions of dollars the government spends on press advertising each year, it appeared to signal the end to an opaque system that has been criticized as a way for governments to encourage favorable coverage.

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President Andrés Manuel López Obrador arrives for his daily press briefing at the National Palace in Mexico City, on April 12. Journalists in Mexico say they are harassed online after being criticized by the president. (AP/Marco Ugarte)

López Obrador’s anti-press rhetoric leaves Mexico’s journalists feeling exposed

During his daily press conference on April 15, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador told reporters, “If you go too far, you know what will happen.” López Obrador clarified his remarks the following day, saying he meant that the public would hold reporters who unfairly criticize the government to account. But in a country where…

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