By Ingrid Bachmann
More than 1,000 reporters, editors, camera operators and photographers took to the streets in Mexico City and other towns in 11 states in defense of freedom of expression, calling for an end to violence against journalists, which has claimed at least 64 lives in the last decade, and left another 11 missing, reported the Latin American Herald Tribune and CBS News.
In the capital, a silent march to the Ministry of the Interior concluded with a shout of “not one more” and demands that the federal government guarantee the safety of journalists, and end impunity for crimes against the press, added El Economista and La Jornada.
The protests occurred days after four journalists were kidnapped in the north of the country by organized crime groups wanting to force the media to transmit their messages.
The Associated Press said the journalists are confident that the march will open the door for collaboration between the media and authorities in terms of security protocols for gathering information, especially given the self-censorship that drug violence has generated.
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.
