By Ingrid Bachmann
Media directors and journalists say they are skeptical of the the government’s newly announced protective measures against attacks from organized crime, EFE reports.
According to CNN México, editors of papers in northern border states – like Chihuahua, Zacatecas, Coahuila, and Sinaloa – believe it is best to protect themselves and take coordinated newsroom actions in the face of threats. “Authority is not being effective and the only way that I see is for us to form networks of journalists and protect ourselves,” said Patricia Mercado, the director of Imagen newspaper.
At the forum “Mexico under siege from organized crime,” organized in Mexico City by the Inter America Press Association (IAPA) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), IAPA urged the Mexican press to work together to protect each other and to not give up, El Universal and El Siglo de Torreón add.
The media’s doubts about the government come mainly from the way the authorities approach the problem. In an SPD Noticias column, Juan José Solís suggests that Calderón is misguided. Beyond physical protection, he writes that “what is needed are conditions that make the practice of journalism safe, that don’t persecute or censor anyone, and that the relevant authorities [act to bring justice] in crimes against media workers.”
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
