An armed group attacked the facilities of two media outlets and shot to death a worker on Feb. 9 in the city of Torreón, in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila, one of the regions most affected by drug trafficking violence in the country, reported the local press.
The victim was identified as Rodolfo Ochoa, a technician for Grupo Multimedios. He was killed when he attempted to call for help. The attackers also entered the transmission booth of the radio station Radiorama, where they caused damage by shooting and then stole equipment, Milenio reported. The attacks temporarily interrupted transmission at both media outlets.
Ochoa was shot five times in the thorax and twice more in the arms, reported El Siglo de Torreón. No group has been blamed yet for the attacks, said Radio Fórmula.
The Inter American Press Society (IAPA) urged President Felipe Calderón to fulfill his pledge to implement legal reforms to stip the violence against the media.
Coahuila is one of the Mexican states where violence linked to drug trafficking has expanded stealthily amid the self-censorship journalists have imposed on themselves in response to the threats they have received.
For more information about threats against journalism in Mexico, see this Knight Center map.
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» Knight Center (Journalists’ new books expose the hidden side of drug trafficking violence in Mexico)
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.
