When no news is bad news

Mexico is the most dangerous country in Latin America for journalists. In 2009, according to the Center for Journalism and Public Ethics (Cepet), there were "documented aggressions against 183 journalists and 19 media organizations for reasons connected to their work. Thirteen media workers were killed during the year." The report indicated a 10 percent rise in incidents targeting media professionals over the previous year in Mexico.

As violence against media professionals makes increasingly dismal headlines, Comunidad Segura spoke to two Mexican journalists, Francisco Gómez Flores, editor at El Universal, and Marco Lara Klahr a professor and journalist who coordinates the violence and media project at Insyde, the Institute for Democracy and Security, about the tangle of violence behind the crippling statistics, how it affects media workers, and what perspectives there are for the future.

While the government has introduced special offices for the protection of journalists and a bill for a new Media Framework Law for Radio, Television and Telecommunications was submitted to the Mexican congress last week, it seems that nevertheless journalists and media workers are still a long way from finding relief. “The prospects for journalist safety are still bleak” said Francisco Gómez Flores, citing impunity as an overriding concern. One of the most important safety nets for journalists “is legal system that prosecutes those who attack media professionals” according to the head of the International News Safety Institute, Rodney Pinder (photo), although punishing such crimes is far from the norm around the world.

The disputed role of organized crime

Impunity was also the first concern voiced by Marco Lara Klahr, pointing out that in Mexico, “according to some indicators, such as Organization of American States data, impunity could run as high as 94 or 96% that is to say, only about 4% of those who commit are crimes are punished. With this level of impunity, it’s clear that social violence, the violence attributed to organized crime and human rights violations will continue, since there is no access to justice. The same holds true for violence against journalists. According to Lara Klahr, the judicial system is unprepared to prosecute crimes against journalists  “We live in a country where approximately 48% of the close to 222 thousand people in jail are awaiting trial, and of this group, over 70% of them were detained for crimes against property averaging less that 200 dollars.

It is true especially of journalists who work locally, outside the capital and the big media in Mexico, said Francisco Gómez Flores, editor at Mexico’s El Universal. In his view although the threats, kidnappings and killings generated by organized crime and the war against organized crime have escalated over the past 3 years, along with a hike in ordinary crime rates, victimizing not only media professionals but also ordinary people, “it is corruption is particularly noxious for reporters”, said Francisco Goméz Flores.

The president of Mexico Felipe Calderón Hinojosa has reportedly attributed most of the violence against journalists to organized crime in a statement made at a presentation of the National Human Rights Commission, the first week of March.

The civil society organization Centro Nacional de Comunicación Social, CENCOS countered however, based on its report “Entre la Violencia y la Indiferencia” issued in February, presenting data that suggests otherwise: “In 65.67% of the cases, the suspected assailants were civil servants, in 14.34% of the cases no suspects were identified, while members of organized crime were attributed 6.15% of the attacks, which were also the most violent.”

The United Nations Human Rights Council also expressed concern with the situation of violence against journalists in Mexico, issuing a statement on March 26th after reviewing reports submitted by the Mexican government. It supported the Mexican government’s creation of a special prosecutor’s office for crimes against media professionals, the Fiscalia Especial para Atención a Delitos Cometidos Contra Periodistas, but expressed concern that although defamation is no longer a crime at federal level, it is still an offense punishable with up to 5 years in prison in over half its administrative regions.

When no news is bad news

The International Commission of Jurists issued a statement recommending that the Mexican state bring to ordinary justice the trials of members of state security forces that commit “grave violations of human rights” when not strictly in exercise of their duty, citing offenses such as torture, homicide or forced disappearances.

Francisco Gómez Flores details how this grey area generated by corruption stymies progresses in reporting: “Reporters may find themselves in a situation where it is not clear whether they are are asking questions or approaching authorities who may be involved with criminal organizations. In other words, it is hard to say where and how the state apparatus is infiltrated, it is risky. There are also those cases in which suspects arrested are freed without public notification, and journalists who reported on their criminal wrongdoings find themselves suddenly exposed.”

Gómez Flores further points out that when the media bows to coercion whatever the sources of violence, it also become more vulnerable since it affects the quality of the information that reaches the public, and in turn increases popular distrust of the media, illustrating with the Matamoros incident:

“There was a violent shootout in the northern city of Matamoros, it lasted for hours, and it took over practically the entire city. Locals witnessed it and were afraid. But journalists and media received threats, and were told not to report on the event. Only the national papers mentioned it, it is obvious, in these conditions, that the public will start to be suspicous of the information they are given as news,” said Gómez Flores.

Marco Lara Klahr agrees with his colleague in that none of the major media outlets provide for special training in protecting media workers, but he goes further by stating that such measures will be of little help if journalists do not have the support of the public. “Journalists will not be safe while they lack social legitimacy”.

UN Human Rights Committee issues recommendations

The solution, according to Lara Klahr, “is for us to become better professionals, to provide higher quality coverage, to be less sensationalist and less prejudiced about the people we are reporting on. If we go on reporting carelessly based on social, gender and class prejudices, people will not support us; they will not care about what happens to us”

Both journalists pointed out there is a need for more organization among journalists, in unions, and cited the important work carried out by watchdog organizations such as Cencos, and Article 19.

Marco Lara Klahr (photo) is nevertheless, skeptical of the power of the new internet based media, such as blogs, newsletters and twitter to break through the news patterns that result from journalists being too reliant on official sources and too harassed by paralegal organizations.

“For one reason or another, journalists in Mexico have traditionally been strongly reliant on official sources. And although the new information tools are useful in certain events, for quick campaigns such as the one that saved the life of Lydia Cacho, a journalist that denounced a paedophile ring with political connections, most of what comes from such alternative media sources has the worst traits of traditional bad journalism, they are sensationalist, exploitative and offer poor quality information,” said Lara Klahr.

The next important step lies perhaps in the enactment of the bill for the new media framework law that has already been backed by 180 congressmen and over 50 senators this week. The bill cites among its goals, the need to “Guarantee the rights of audiences as well as to promote a respect for the freedoms of expression and right to information.”

The UN Human Rights Council has also issued its own recommendations in the spirit of protecting journalist safety in Mexico, among them: To take immediate measures to provide efficient protection for journalists and human rights champions whose lives and safety are at risk because of their professional activities, and particularly to enact the bill on crimes against freedom of expression through journalism. To guarantee the prompt, impartial and effective investigation of the threats, violent attacks and homicides of journalist and human rights champions, and prosecute them for their offences. And further, to depenalize the crime of defamation in all Mexican states.

Read Further:

Insyde, the Institute for Democracy and Security

Centro Nacional de Comunicación Social, Cencos

Center for Journalism and Public Ethics

International Federation of Journalists Safety Fund

Freedom of Speach Annual Report (in Spanish)