51吃瓜

Journalism is facing a crisis in Mexico, leading to protests calling for an end to violence.

鈥淎 murdered journalist means one less voice in favor of the people.鈥� These words, written in Spanish, were placed on a blanket outside a memorial for , a reporter for La Jornada who was murdered on May 15. He is the fourth journalist to be killed in Mexico this year and the second assaulted that day.

On May 16, hundreds of journalists gathered outside the attorney general鈥檚 office in three cities calling for justice. In the capital Mexico City, protesters held photos of the victims along with placards reading, 鈥淭hey are killing us.鈥� Since President Enrique Pe帽a Nieto entered office in 2012, 聽have been killed and聽.

PRESS FREEDOM IN MEXICO

Journalism is a risky profession as it can involve investigating and telling stories that many do not want to be told. As per the United Nations, more than in the line of duty over the past 10 years. This year alone has seen nine cases, according to , including the deaths of Javier Vald茅z and .

In Mexico, the situation is coming to a head. Four of the nine were killed in that country, while two died in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, Russia and Syria. Another聽 by the organization Article 19 says that every 22 hours, a member of the Mexican press suffers an attack.

The worst part is that 99.7% of those cases remain unpunished, according to聽the 聽by the Special Prosecutor鈥檚聽Office for聽Crimes聽Against聽Journalists. From 2010 to 2016, 798 formal investigations for crimes against the press were registered, but聽just 101 had the alleged perpetrator presented to court and only two were sentenced. In fact, 53% of attacks against journalists in 2016, including two extrajudicial executions, were committed by public servants, according to an annual . The state is believed to be the number one aggressor with 226 cases versus 17 by organized crime.

This partly explains why violence against journalists has kept growing despite the creation in 2012 of a special government office to protect human rights activists and journalists, along with the constant of President Pe帽a Nieto to take action. The other reason comes from the聽聽of these entities. Lines where no one answers, panic buttons without signals and cameras that take months to be installed of those who have sought assistance from the office.

Given the situation, the efforts of agencies like the Committee to Protect Journalists, Article 19 and Reporters Without Borders have not been enough to help journalists in trouble.

DYING聽FOR A DOLLAR

Attacks, impunity and the criminalization of journalism are not the only factors killing Mexican media. Low salaries and minimal security are also common. According to , journalists earn around 10,000 pesos ($535) a month 鈥� enough for a single person but not a family. And that鈥檚 if you鈥檙e lucky: There are many like Gregorio Jim茅nez who, with five children and a wife depending on him,聽 鈥� one of which got him killed in 2014.

Apart from the low pay, some media outlets do not provide security for their employees, even when sent on dangerous assignments. Journalists at聽La Jornada, for example, even though two of the four journalists murdered this year worked for that organization.

An important aspect of the economic crisis that journalists face comes from the changes in the way people consume information due to social networks. Mistrust in traditional media has increased worldwide.聽The view of聽journalists as being subjective, corrupt or enslaved to power has become a dogma among the least rational part of society 鈥� Donald Trump鈥檚 outspokenness against liberal media proves this phenomena is not limited to Mexico.聽This portion of society is the least rational because its people do not realize that journalism is and will remain a fundamental tool for democracy.

In a world where 鈥渇ake news鈥� spreads with the speed of a virus and anyone with a smartphone has the ability to broadcast information of whatever quality, we need people who can verify the truth with a method, use reliable sources and make sense of facts through documented analysis. It is true that journalists (and media outlets) have a point of view that could define what they cover and how they do it 鈥� after all, they are people too. But with most journalists, those opinions will not be reflected in their work. Impartiality means looking for all the possible versions of truth that can be proven through objective and verified facts, in order to present the most genuine portrayal of reality.

Assaulting journalists and subjecting them to fear-based self-censorship means attacking our own fundamental rights of freedom of expression and access to information, enshrined in . So too does re-victimizing them and keeping quiet over the abuses they suffer.

Carmen Aristegui, a Mexican journalist who lost her job on the radio after investigating President Pe帽a Nieto鈥檚 鈥�,鈥� said on : 鈥淲e have to convince society that the death of a journalist is the death of society, it is the death of our liberties, it is the death of an attempt for democracy and for an harmonic life.鈥� She also had it right when saying that today the portrait of Mexico has the face of a murdered journalist.

鈥淵ou can kill journalists but you can’t kill the truth.鈥� That is the hashtag 鈥� #NoSeMataLaVerdadMatandoPeriodistas 鈥� which represents the movement for press freedom in Mexico. The problem is that, even when truth is revealed, the voices of the world are usually dead, just as it was written on the memorial for Javier Vald茅z.

The views expressed in this article are the author鈥檚 own and do not necessarily reflect 51吃瓜鈥檚 editorial policy.

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