Going beyond national borders to combat impunity
Combating impunity has been a long and difficult process, full of obstacles and problems. At the national level it has not been easy, so much of our work is carried out using the supranational tools that we helped develop. They began taking shape through international intergovernmental declarations, in conclusions reached by international legislative and judicial…
Mexican journalists face ever-increasing danger
There is an often-repeated phrase among journalists: No story is worth dying for, we say. But journalists are dying in every region of the world. In Iraq, in Somalia, in Russia, in Bolivia, in the Philippines, journalists died last year while reporting the news in their countries.
Reporters crowd Zeta during Tijuana ‘Attacks’ launch
The border city of Tijuana, where drug-related violence left almost a thousand people dead in 2008, has had a strong military presence since the government of President Felipe Calderón deployed the Mexican army to fight powerful drug cartels. It can be felt in the streets. While we were driving to the Zeta offices, where we…
A eulogy for Eloy Aguilar
Former Associated Press World Services Director Claude Erbsen gave a eulogy on Wednesday for former AP Mexico Bureau Chief Eloy Aguilar, left, who died on January 30 at the age of 72. Erbsen said there were about 100 people at the church memorial: “a mixed bag of foreign correspondents ranging from AP to Xinhua, with…
Remembering Eloy Aguilar
Being a foreign correspondent means living between two worlds. You are an outsider, a foreigner. But you are also insider, with unprecedented access to those in power. You become part of the country in which you live, participating in the culture and developing lasting friendships. And yet you are always apart, observing, commenting, translating, and…
Mexican reporter released from U.S. detention center
According to U.S. and Mexican news reports, reporter Emilio Gutiérrez Soto was released on Thursday from a detention center in El Paso, Texas, where he had been held for seven months while awaiting an immigration hearing. Gutiérrez illegally entered the United States in June fearing for his life and that of his son after receiving…
Monterrey attack a reminder of reporting dangers
The aftermath of the January 6 attack on the Televisa studios in Monterrey, a city that until recently was considered one of the safest in Latin America, has generated great interest locally in how the media is protecting itself. As part of the coverage, headlines in the Mexican media this morning said that journalists reporting for the…
Press freedom in the news 1/08/2009
Yesterday’s attack on Mexican TV network Televisa is making headlines in the world press today. The Washington Post has coverage of masked gunman threw a grenade at the TV station, allegedly in retaliation for reporting on drug trafficking. The article quotes CPJ’s Carlos Lauria, who said that the “attack in Monterrey is another example of how…
Press freedom in the news 12/19/08
Making news today is yesterday’s release of our year-end analysis of the deadliest countries for journalists. The report found that 41 journalists were killed for their work in 2008, with Iraq named the most deadly for the sixth straight year. The Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse all ran stories outlining the report’s findings yesterday. Today the story is receiving widespread coverage in both the…