Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists and among the ones with the highest levels of unsolved crimes against the press. Though the exact figures of those killed are often conflicting, press freedom organizations around the world agree through general consensus that Mexico is among the most dangerous countries on the planet to exercise journalism as a profession. More than 100 media workers have been killed or disappeared since 2000, and most of these crimes remained unsolved, improperly investigated, and with few perpetrators arrested and convicted.
Historical summary
Targeted killings of journalists in Mexico have existed since the reign of Porfirio Díaz and the Mexican Revolution in 1910. When the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) ruled the presidency in the 1930s following the Revolution, the Mexican government practically monopolized the press in Mexico in order to get favorable coverage in the media. Journalists who complied with the modus operandi were paid with government handouts and gifts; those who did not were intimidated and/or killed. Throughout the 1970s and the 1980s, Mexico was the most dangerous country for journalists in all of Latin America. However, most of the attacks against the press were carried out by upset drug traffickers and corrupt law enforcement officials because they were the ones mentioned in the press.
Through the government's use of informal coercion and media blackout, the Mexican press became accustomed to limit their reports to what state officials said. Very few journalists dared to break away from this practice because the government would thereby threaten to withdraw their advertisements and prevent the state-owned paper agency of that time to sell newsprints for their publications.
When the Mexican government began to sell off the media public enterprises in the 1980s, more autonomous and independent newspapers with diversity in their news coverages were born. During this decade, the PRI began to lose several local and state elections, and eventually lost the presidency in 2000 to the National Action Party (PAN), after they had won every presidential election since 1929. With this political transition, Mexican readers began to prefer media outlets that showed a level of integrity and autonomy.
When former President Felipe Calderón of the PAN took office in 2006, he carried out a military-led campaign to tackle Mexico's drug trafficking organizations. Violence across Mexico spread shortly thereafter, as rival organized crime groups fought for territorial control and with the government. This rise in drug-related murders came alongside a spike of attacks against the press, with drug cartels and corrupt officials wanting to take control the flow of information that reached the news. Organized crime groups traditionally attack traditional print newspapers, either by killing, disappearing, or intimidating their reporters.
With traditional media being too intimidating to reporters, some newspapers in Mexico have self-censored and stopped writing about drug trafficking and organized crime. Others simply limit their coverage to the information found in official government press releases or police reports, while others, however, are forced to write what a drug trafficking organization orders them to publish. Journalists have to be careful when they decide to write about the drug violence in Mexico because little things can incur a reprisal; using simple words like "organized crime" are often just what they need to anger a drug trafficking organization.
Criminal organizations target journalists for various reasons. Among the most common one is to silence the press in the areas they operate in, and especially when the groups are trying to establish their presence in an area. They also kill journalists as retributions for publications that may damage their business. Cartels want the press to be silent because keeping an image that a city is safe can prevent the Mexican government from sending more federal troops to the area. In addition, Mexican media outlets find themselves vulnerable to attacks when they are in an area with two or more organized crime groups. A group might threaten to kill a journalist if there is coverage of them on the media, while another group might do the same if there is not any coverage.
Attacks against the press continued under the administration of President Enrique Peña Nieto. Violence has compromised the news that reaches the rest of the world. Local journalists are largely responsible for reporting what happens day-to-day in Mexico and the international media relies on them.
Violence against journalists and media workers increased by 85% during the presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. López Obrador, who frequently attacks journalists and independent news outlets during his morning briefings, has often downplayed the threats against the press.
There was a surge of killings in early 2022.
Before the Mexican drug war
Reform War, Second Empire and Restored Republic Date Name Location Media outlet Status Refs25 December 1860Vicente Segura ArgüellesMexicoDiario de AvisosKilled1863Carlos R. CasarínMexicoLa OrquestaMi SombreroKilled23 September 1866Donato Corzo RuizChiapasLa TijeraKilled
Porfiriato and Revolution Date Name Location Media outlet Status Refs27 April 1880Santiago SierraState of MexicoLa LibertadKilled17 February 1885Luis González y GonzálezMorelia, MichoacánEl AceroEl ExploradorKilled28 April 1887Roberto BereaMexicoN/AKilled13 May 1892Pablo OchoaMexicoEl Norte de ChihuahuaKilled2 April 1894Emilio OrdóñezPachuca, HidalgoN/AKilled30 July 1895Jesús Olmos y ContrerasPueblaCrisisLa Voz de la VerdadKilled27 January 1897José Cayetano Valadés RochaPen name: (Asunción Sánchez)Mazatlán, SinaloaLa TarántulaKilledApril 1901Eusebio S. AlmonteMezcala, GuerreroEl Eco del SurKilled30 August 1902Vicente Rivero EchegarayTampico, TamaulipasBala RasaKilled1908Luis Díaz CoudertMexicoEl Diario de ChihuahuaKilled1 June 1911José Sabás de la MoraCuliacán, SinaloaVoz del NorteKilled11 August 1912Ignacio HerreríasTlaltizapán, MorelosEl TiempoKilled11 August 1912Humberto León StraussTlaltizapán, MorelosEl ImparcialKilled11 August 1912José Luis RiveraTlaltizapán, MorelosN/AKilled12 September 1912José Gurdiel FernándezBalancán, TabascoEl Correo de TabascoKilled12 September 1912Renon de la MoralBalancán, TabascoN/AKilled1913– de la TorreMexicoN/AKilled9 February 1913Mariano DuqueMexico CityEl Defensor del PuebloKilled22 February 1913José RumbiaTlaxcala, TlaxcalaLa Nueva RepúblicaKilled27 August 1913Solón ArgüelloMexico CityNueva EraKilledDecember 1913Víctor David DelgadoChihuahuaN/AKilledAugust 1914A.F. ParedesCananea, SonoraLa Voz de CananeaKilledAugust 1914Donancio ChávezCananea, SonoraLa VerdadKilledSeptember 1914Manuel M. HuguesCananea, SonoraN/AKilled13 December 1914Paulino MartínezMexicoEl ChinacoLa Voz de JuárezKilled
Constitution of 1917 to Presidency of Lázaro Cardenas Date Name Location Media outlet Status Refs9 February 1917Faustino DíazSinaloaEl Monitor SinaloenseDisappeared1918Lázaro Gutiérrez de LaraSaric, SonoraRevoluciónKilled1919Marcos Torres ColladoCunduacán, TabascoEl ChismeKilled1920sJuan Rafael DuránSan Pedro, CoahuilaEl LátigoLa OpiniónKilledApril 1920Francisco RangelGuadalajara, JaliscoVerbo LibreKilled12 October 1920Manuel LezcanoVillahermosa, TabascoEl RadicalKilled19 July 1921Florencio Ávila y CastilloMérida, YucatánAsociación de Periodistas de YucatánKilled24 May 1922Jesús Z. MorenoMexico CityEl Heraldo de MéxicoKilled1923–1924Pedro Flores GonzálezMexico CityN/AKilled23 June 1923Ángel PulidoState of MexicoEl ImplacableKilled28 July 1924José Carmen HernándezMexicoEl ColmilloEl Colmillo PúblicoKilled5 February 1927Archibaldo ClarkMagdalena, SonoraEl HeraldoKilledApril 1927Anacleto González FloresGuadalajara, JaliscoLa PalabraKilled4 October 1927Alonso CapetilloHuitzilac, MorelosN/AKilled2 October 1928Enrique WoolfolkMagdalena de Kino, SonoraLa RevistaKilled31 May 1929Luis D. KluverAgua Prieta, SonoraLa VanguardiaKilled13 September 1930Arturo GarcíaTuxtla Gutiérrez, ChiapasRegeneraciónChiapas NuevoKilled7 February 1936Julián S. GonzálezMexico CityEl TiempoKilled20 April 1939José Trinidad Mata MoraPuebla AvanteKilled
Presidencies of Manuel Ávila Camacho to Luis Echeverría, 1940–1976 Date Name Location Media outlet Status Refs15 October 1942Eduardo GaldámezTapachula, ChiapasEl Sur de MéxicoKilled3 April 1944Ignacio F. HerreríasMexico CityNovedadesKilled19 April 1944Salvador Guerrero GonzálezTorreón, CoahuilaLa OpiniónKilled31 March 1947Vicente Villasana GonzálezCiudad Victoria, TamaulipasEl MundoKilled11 November 1948Fernando Sánchez BretónMexico CityLa Semana IlustradaKilled19 November 1949José María Jiménez RubioPen name: (Nicanor)Mazatlán, SinaloaEl Correo de la TardeKilled24 October 1953Raúl Parra MolinaSalina Cruz, OaxacaLa Voz de SuresteKilledJuly 1956Manuel Acosta MezaTijuana, Baja CaliforniaEl ImparcialKilled2 September 1956Fernando Márquez SánchezTijuana, Baja CaliforniaBaja CaliforniaKilled28 May 1957Manuel Sánchez HernándezTepic, NayaritLa Extra de la TardeKilled24 April 1959Jorge Salinas AragónMinatitlán, VeracruzDiario de SotaventoKilled26 November 1961Carlos Estrada SastréTijuana, Baja CaliforniaNoticiasKilled5 July 1964José González MiravallesPen name (Pepe Miravalles)Acapulco, GuerreroNovedadesKilled15 April 1968Juan Muñoz FloresJojutla, MorelosAlarmaLa voz de MorelosKilled1 January 1970Carlos DenegriMexicoExcélsiorKilled8 October 1970Ernesto Espinosa HernándezChihuahua, ChihuahuaLa JeringaKilled31 July 1971Vicente García MedinaEl Fuerte, SinaloaEl AvanceKilled1973José Asunción MéndezChihuahuaLa JeringaKilled7 July 1975Carlos López y LópezMiahuatlán, OaxacaEl Demócrata de AntequerdaKilled
Presidencies of José López Portillo to Ernesto Zedillo, 1976–2000