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Related: About this forumMurders, threats and duopoly: the state of press freedom in Mexico
Murders, threats and duopoly: the state of press freedom in Mexico
Deadly attacks on journalists are on the rise in Mexico, and perpetrators operate largely with impunity
Luis Hernández Navarro in Mexico City
Wednesday 25 February 2015 06.03 EST
On 2 January, journalist Moisés Sánchez was kidnapped by an armed group. Nine people with covered faces stormed into his house in Medellin de Bravo, a town in the wealthy eastern state of Veracruz. They searched and grabbed documents, and took Sánchez, along with his camera, laptop, mobile phone and tablet. The police took hours to come to the house. Sánchez was found dead 23 days later on the outskirts of the town.
Sánchez, editor of La Unión, is the eleventh journalist to be murdered in Veracruz since Governor Javier Duarte de Ochoa took office on 1 December 2010. As well as murders, four media professionals have gone missing and there have been 132 attacks against the local press in the same period.
Events in Veracruz state are serious, but they are far from exceptional. In vast zones of Mexico, especially on the United States border and in areas where drug trafficking prevails, journalists at all levels have been threatened or attacked. Victims include some of the most nationally well-known commentators but more frequently are reporters writing for regional and local media, online and on social media.
The free press defence organisation Article 19 documents three chilling facts: attacks against communicators are rising in Mexico, in most cases impunity prevails, and in more than half of cases the perpetrators are linked with the state.
More:
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/feb/25/press-freedom-mexico-murder-threat-duopoly
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(5,902 posts)if the likes of Rupert Murdoch and Michael "I'm not Colin" Powell had their way.