Journalism In Mexico: 2015 Most Dangerous Year For Reporters With 397 Media Aggression Cases Filed

Freedom of speech has always been a delicate subject to talk about in some countries. In Mexico, journalists manifest their struggle to be heard and to find safe ways to tell the truth on a daily basis, and that often leads to verbal and physical attacks, and even death. According to Artículo 19, 2015 has been the most violent year for the press in Mexico since 2009. 397 cases of aggression against the media were filed, which constitute a 21.8% growth from last year.

In August last year, photojournalist Ruben Espinosa was found dead along with four other women in an apartment located in his hometown in the state of Veracruz. In February, another Veracruz journalist, Anabel Flores, was violently dragged from her home by a group of armed men, tortured and killed. Her body was found on a highway in Puebla. No one has been arrested or charged for their murders.

“Impunity reminds us that in Mexico fear is founded by the reality the press has been living in the country, and that wants to terrorize anyone who pretends to use freedom of speech as a right,” Article 19 writes in a report.

Aranzazú Ayala, Lado B’s digital reporter, is one of the few who has found the courage to come forward and expose the life threats that she has been receiving on social media. Another one who is trying to find some response from the authorities is Andrea Noel, who recently created a social media movement in order to find the man who assaulted her in the streets. Their latest comments disclose that authorities are not paying enough attention to their cases.

CNN reports that in the past seven years, public servers committed 46.9% of the attacks, which proves that these aggressions have nothing to do with organized crime, but the State itself. The Governor of Veracruz, Javier Duarte Ochoa, has been publicly accused of allegedly killing Espinosa, even though the allegations have no verifiable witness or physical proof behind them, suspicion has grown after the number of deceased journalist has increase since his term began in 2010.

Mexico City and Veracruz, which has been named “The State Without Law” by Proceso magazine, head the list with 69 cases files. Guerrero and Puebla follow on third and fourth places with 56 and 38 cases, respectively.