By Alejandro Martínez
Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office, or PGR — which is in charge of investigating federal crimes like drug and arms trafficking — is now denying journalists access to their facilities all over the country, news weekly Proceso reported.
The measure took effect on March 1 and also orders state delegates not to speak to media outlets without prior authorization, newspaper Reforma said.
“The PGR is instructing that official information and interviews have to be requested in writing to the central offices of the Social Communications Department,” Proceso said.
Other concerns have recently come up regarding the PGR and its relationship with the press. In its most recent report on Mexico, the Inter-American Press Association noted that the PGR has only looked at seven of the 47 cases of violence against journalists since June last year, despite having the ability to investigate these crimes as federal cases.
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.
