With the goal of preventing misinformation, Jaime Rodríguez Calderón, Mexican governor of the northern state of Nuevo León, said he would ask local lawmakers for a law that would force journalists to reveal their sources, according to Proceso.
“If you don’t tell me the source, don’t even ask me; if you don’t tell me the source I won’t answer anything until you tell me who told you that,” Rodríguez Calderón, also known as “El Bronco”, told the press.
These statements were made during an interview in which the press asked questions related issues of citizen security in Nuevo León.
One of the recent crimes the governor was asked about was that of José Luis de León Cantú, a prosecutor assigned to the Attorney General’s Office of Nuevo León, who was shot dead in front of his home two days ago.
Rodríguez Calderón told the press that misinformation on the subject had been spread. For example, he explained that the murdered prosecutor was not investigating acts of corruption inside the State Investigation Agency, Proceso reported.
“Today I decided to answer you, I have the right not to answer you, to not tell you anything. Today I decided to give you information about the ambulances, tomorrow, or when we have a security event, I will tell you what happens with the issue of security,” the governor said to the journalists present, according to La Jornada.
Professional secrecy, meaning, the protection of journalists’ sources of information, is protected by articles 6 and 7 of the Mexican constitution. The rights to freedom of expression and of information are protected by the State.
Rodríguez Calderón, formed within the ranks of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI for its acronym in Spanish), was elected governor of Nuevo León as an independent politician to serve from 2015 - 2021.
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.
