Mexican authorities of the state of Sonora in northeastern Mexico, confirmed the kidnapping of a police beat journalist who covers local security and justice issues, on Thursday, May 17, reported the Associated Press.
The Mexican radio station Grupo Fórmula sent a letter to the owner of the newspaper Reforma to clarify the sponsorship payments made by presidential candidate and former governor of the state of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, reported the same radio station.
For the second time in one week, an armed group opened fire against a Mexican newspaper's headquarters in the state of Tamaulipas that is commonly harassed by organized crime. The attack happened the night of Friday, May 11, against the newspaper El Mañana of Nuevo Laredo, a city on the Texas border, according to Proceso. Previously, on May 7, another similar attack against the newspaper Hora Cero in the city of Reynosa was reported.
A Mexican reporter was found dead in the trunk of his car in the city of Cuernavaca, about 52 miles from Mexico City, reported the news agency AFP.
Although the headquarters of the Mexican newspaper El Mañana suffered an armed attack in the border city of Nuevo Laredo on the night of Friday, May 11; the reporters of the newspaper managed to finish Saturday's edition and return to work on the next day, reported the newspaper Detroit Free Press. Not even a grenade can stop the presses in Mexico,” was the headline for the Detroit Free Press, which highlighted the armed attack against the newspaper.
How much does a journalist in Mexico cost? According to an article in the Mexican newspaper Reforma, the answer could be hundreds of thousands of dollars if it's for Joaquín López Dóriga, news host for Televisa, the main Mexican broadcaster.
Mexican journalist Humberto Padgett was among the winners of the prestigious 2012 Ortega y Gasset Journalism Prizes, organized by the Spanish newspaper El País, awarded Tuesday, May 8. Padgett, a reporter for the Emeequis magazine, won the prize for print journalism for his work "The Lost Boys" (Los Muchachos Perdidos), about organized crime in Mexico.
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.
After the killing of four Mexican journalists in Veracruz in less than a week, a few local news media managers ordered their reporters not to attend the funerals of their colleagues as a precautionary measure, reported the news agency AFP.
After authorities identified the bodies of two tortured and killed Mexican photojournalists, the Attorney General of the Mexican state of Veracruz confirmed that the other two dismembered bodies found on Thursday, May 3, also belonged to employees of the local press, reported the Program of Freedom of Expression of the Center for Journalism and Public Ethics. Drug cartels are considered suspects in the killings, which highlight the dangers of reporting in parts of Mexico, the Houston Chronicle and the Globe and Main reported.
Two Mexican journalists were found dead in Veracruz on the morning of Thursday, May 3, only days after the killing of journalist Regina Martínez, reporter for Veracruz’s Proceso news-magazine, according to the Los Angeles Times. The finding of the two dead journalists coincides with World Press Freedom Day.
After the recent killing of Mexican journalist Regina Martínez, from the news-magazine Proceso, the Mexican House unanimously approved the Law for Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists on Monday, April 30, reported CNN México. The bill mandates that Mexican authorities provide protection for threatened journalists and was already approved last week by the Senate. Now all that is left is for the president of Mexico to put the law into effect.