Between conflict and stability: Journalists in Pakistan and Mexico cope with everyday threats
By Daniel DeFraia The Pakistani journalist knew the risk, but he wrote the story about the militants anyway. Years earlier he had been shot, after reporting on another taboo subject, but for him the freelance work was thrilling, even after he had to marry his girlfriend in secret and flee Pakistan without her–and still now,…
Armando Rodríguez’s murder: Two years, no justice
Two years have passed since the killing of El Diario journalist José Armando Rodríguez Carreón, known to his friends as “El Choco,” and no legal process has begun to shed light on the crime committed on November 13, 2008. Faced with the reality of impunity, his widow, Blanca Martínez, asserted that her only hope lies…
Doubt cast on confession in Rodríguez murder
The man who Mexican President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa said had confessed to taking part in the murder of reporter Armando Rodríguez Carreón was tortured, the newspaper El Diario in Ciudad Juárez reported today. On Wednesday, Calderón told a delegation from CPJ and the Inter American Press Association about the man’s alleged involvement in the killing.…
Paper will curb coverage to protect reporters’ lives in Juárez
The major daily in the war-wracked Mexican city of Ciudad Juárez, El Diario, surprised media around the globe on Saturday when it published an unusual editorial that openly compromises the paper’s coverage in order to preserve its journalists’ lives.Under the headline, “What do you want from us?,” the editorial pleads for the cartels to stop killing journalists, and asks…
Attacks on the Press 2009: Mexico
Top Developments• Amid threats and attacks, self-censorship becomes more pervasive.• Congress stalls on reforms to combat violence against the press. Key Statistic 9: Journalists missing since 2005. Most had covered crime and corruption. The deepening influence of organized crime and the government’s inability to curb worsening violence left the news media wide open to attack.…
Crime reporter slain in Ciudad Juárez
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.
Crime reporter gunned down in Mexico
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…
Attacks on the Press 2002: Mexico
Two years after the historic election of Vicente Fox, which ended 75 years of one-party rule in Mexico, the country is being governed somewhat more democratically. But in 2002, the president still faced urgent demands to break with the government’s corrupt and secretive past in favor of transparency and public accountability.