Journalism in Mexico, "the biggest threat".

Mexico remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists. According to a report published in 2013, more than 80 journalists have been murdered in the last decade and 17 have disappeared.

Groups of drug traffickers have taken the power in giving orders to radio or TV staff to stop transmitting any kind of news programs that can present their criminal activities to the public. In most of the cases, gang members would make calls to radio stations or TV offices to threaten or intimidate the staff. In severe cases, they even attempt to invade the offices of radio or TV installations to shoot around and create mayhem.

The Journalism in Mexico is dying because of these acts. Criminal gangs have increased in power to such an extent that journalism is facing a tremendous challenge to survive. As an example, Reynosa, Tamaulipas has been taken by the Gulf cartel which primarily focuses on drug trafficking.

During my experience as a news writer for Milenio TV, I have witnessed one horrific act from those criminal gangs. Two of our partners (one cameraman and one reporter) were kidnapped by a criminal group in Reynosa, Tamaulipas on March of 2010. They were covering a special news report after an increase in violence in that State. Ciro Gómez Leyva, Editorial Director of Milenio TV gave the horrific news of our two partners and he mentioned that they were working on that topic for four days, their work was being transmitted on the news channel for two days, however, after this horrible event, the special report was out of the transmission.

In the end, our partners came back home alive. However, they were tortured by the criminal group. In conclusion, having this experience has made me understand that the biggest threat to journalism in Mexico is the criminal cartel’s blade on all those who work in this sector. The root of this threat is the lack of governance and the election of the Institutional Revolutionary Party has not changed the situation as the freedom of information in the country is still absent.