During the March 15-16 workshop organized by the U.S.
InquireFirst Executive Director Lynne Walker traveled to Nogales, Mexico, to meet with journalists to discuss new techniques for investigative and high-risk reporting. Through a spider web of tunnels bored into a vast drainage system that connects Nogales, Mexico, to Nogales, Arizona, billions of dollars of marijuana and other drugs are being shipped to the U.S. Underneath this sunbaked city, another kind of product is crossing into the United States. NOGALES, Mexico – This is a city of commerce, a bustling town leaning into the U.S.-Mexico border where billions of dollars of tomatoes and squash and peppers are shipped into the United States every year along with shiny Ford Fusions, computer electronics and parts for the aerospace industry. May 22, 2012.Workshop on high-risk reporting held in Mexican border city of Nogales “Periodistas de Hermosillo protestan con moños negros.” El Universal. “Kidnapped reporter found dead in Mexico.” The Guardian. May 19, 2012. “Encuentran cadáver de un reportero plagiado ayer en Sonora.” La Jornada. May 18, 2012.Īssociated Press. To read more about the recent string of violence against journalists in Mexico, click here.Ĭamacho, Fernando. Consequently, some news outlets turn to self-censorship to avoid being targets of future violence, like how El Mañana in Tamaulipas recently announced that it would no longer publish stories on organized crime after its offices were hit with grenades and bullets on May 11.
The country is known to be one of the most dangerous places in the world for members of the media to work, and despite some governmental efforts to better protect journalists, such as the approved amendment in March that made crimes against media a federal offense, the numbers continue to increase. Ávila García’s death makes him the seventh journalist killed in Mexico in 2012 alone. Others continue to call attention to the very high levels of impunity that criminals face in Mexico, and demand that authorities not allow yet another case to slip away unpunished. “It’s black for the pain of losing a colleague, but also because it’s the color that represents the stain or shadow cast on our ability to fulfill our work as journalists,” explained the group. Since Friday’s discovery, members of the Sonoran Group of Journalists (Foro Sonorense de Periodistas) have worn black ribbons or ties in his honor and as a sign of mourning for their friend and co-worker. While authorities investigate the murder, media networks and colleagues of the slain journalist have protested his death and demanded that the perpetrators be brought to justice. He was married with three young children. Authorities said that a message from the perpetrators accompanied the body, though they did not say what the text read. Ávila García (39) was a reporter at newspaper outlets El Regional de Sonora and Diario Sonora de la Tarde, where he specifically covered organized crime and police beats. Ávila García’s body was found in a plastic bag just outside the city of Empalme, Sonora, a day after witnesses reported he was kidnapped by three masked gunmen at a car wash in Ciudad Obregón. Photo: El Diario de SonoraĠ5/22/12 – On Friday, May 18, journalist Marco Antonio Ávila García became the sixth member of the media killed in the past month in Mexico, a staggeringly high number in such a short period of time. Journalist Marcio Antonio Ávila García (left) was kidnapped from the car wash (right) in Ciudad Obregón on May 17.
0 kommentar(er)
