The cartels never did answer the editors’ plea.Īs the mainstream media self-censored its coverage of cartel violence, anonymous blogs and social media filled the vacuum. The editors published the letter just a few days after one young photography intern working for the paper was shot and killed, and another intern injured. El Diario de Juarez published a front-page editorial in the form of an open letter, with the headline, “WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM US?” It pleaded with the cartels to tell the Diario journalists what they could do to continue to work without being intimidated or killed. In 2010, one of the last Mexican newspapers brave enough, or stubborn enough, to still cover cartel violence along the U.S.-Mexico border, finally gave in. The video, as many more to come would be, was removed by YouTube administrators, but only after many people watched. In 2008, when the Dallas Morning News received its first DVD depicting the execution of four gangsters by a rival group, the killers also posted the video to YouTube. The cartels took advantage of new media technology as it became available, to more efficiently spread their messages of terror. Some people wanted to see the grisly photos and videos of cartel crime scenes, and social media allowed them to see what the traditional press would not show. The group blames those deaths and kidnappings on not only the criminal organizations in the country but on the “complicity of corrupt local, and sometimes federal, officials.”Īs the mainstream media self-censored its coverage of cartel violence, anonymous blogs and social media filled the vacuum. According to the press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders, 88 journalists were killed in Mexico between 2000 and the end of 2013, and 18 others have disappeared. Cartels also often want to use the press to broadcast their own messages of intimidation to the public-if news outlets comply, they may suffer retaliation from rival groups. When cartels commit crimes, the reporters who cover them often face threats. The Mexican press has suffered great losses during the years of drug-related violence. The Sinaloa Cartel and others like it have been blamed for a majority of the tens of thousands of kidnappings and 100,000 homicides recorded in Mexico since 2006. The recent capture of drug kingpin Joaquín Guzmán Loera in Mexico was a rare victory in the war on drugs in that country. Mexican Army soldiers during a confrontation in Michoacán in August 2007.

El blog del narco nuevo laredo