With five reporters killed in likely retaliation for their work, Mexico edged out Syria and Afghanistan as the most dangerous country for reporters, according to a year-end reportfrom the Committee to Protect Journalists. One of the Mexican reporters, Jose Miguel Armenta, was killed in southern Sonora, along with two police bodyguards. CPJ is continuing to investigate several other Mexican cases.
“As long as the Mexican government does not invest in effective policing, in effective prosecuting, then this situation is going to continue and journalists will continue to be targeted,” said Jan-Albert Hootsen, CPJ’s representative in Mexico.
He did point out there have been several arrests for some recent cases, and successful prosecutions in a few high-profile reporter murders, but says those developments do not seem to have yet had a broader impact on journalist safety.
