Another Mexican news outlet was the target of an attack on Monday, May 7. This time the shooting was against the newspaper Hora Cero in the city of Reynosa, on the Texas border, according to the newspaper Vanguardia.
Employees of the newspaper reported that they received an anonymous call that gave them 10 minutes to evacuate the building before the shooting, according to the radio station Radio Fórmula. About six hooded men opened fire on the newspaper's offices, reported the news agency Proceso.
Like most newspapers located in the border state of Tamaulipas, the newspaper Hora Cero does not publish news about violence or insecurity out of fear of being attacked by organized crime, according to the newspaper Nosotros. As proof of this, the newspaper's Twitter account has not mentioned news about the attack on its own headquarters, reported the news agency Notimex. In addition, the general manager of the newspaper, Héctor Hugo Jiménez, denied the attack during an interview with the Texas newspaper The Monitor, reported the news site Clases de Periodismo. Other reporters, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that newspaper employees were sent home and no one was hurt during the shooting.
Most attacks against Mexican news outlets follow a similar pattern: hooded individuals shoot or detonate an explosive causing material damage, but no one is hurt during the attacks, just as was the case at Hora Cero. Usually the perpetrators do not leave a message about their motives or identity.
This case makes 27 armed attacks against Mexican news outlets recorded since 2010. Most of the attacks occurred in the northern part of the country and have yet to be solved, reported the freedom of expression organization Article 19. Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists. For more information, see this Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas map of attacks on the Mexican press.
