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| Terrorism Of Journalists! June 9, 2006 Terrorism isn’t just a tool employed by religious fanatics against governments - sometimes it is a tactic used to silence the press by crime cartels and corrupt politicians. Journalism is a life-threatening profession in many parts of the world. Attacks on the press have escalated in recent years, and the news media, especially in crime-ridden areas, are being silenced by organized crime. Across Mexico, journalists are being threatened and killed for doing their job. Instead of investigating and reporting on what would otherwise make front-page news, there is a trend of self-censorship by reporters and the media. They are threatened by powerful drug cartels and corrupt politicians who wish to keep news of their activities out of the public eye, perpetrating impunity and lawlessness. “It’s very difficult to be a reporter here,” said Raul Llamas, a radio reporter who used to cover the two warring cartels vying for control of the busiest port of entry into the U.S., just over the border from Texas. “One of my colleagues was killed, and people are too scared.” His colleague was fellow journalist Guadalupe García Escamilla, who was shot nine times as she left the Estereo 91 radio station. The editor of El Mañana newspaper, Ramón Cantú, said that his newspaper would scale back its already limited coverage of the drug cartels in order to protect its staff. The paper has imposed a high level of self-censorship since its previous editor, Roberto Javier Mora García, was stabbed to death in March 2004. The El Mañana attack sparked nationwide outrage and the Mexican government announced it would name a special prosecutor to investigate crimes against journalists. President Vicente Fox appointed David Vega Vera, a well-known lawyer and human rights advocate. “Whoever attacks freedom of expression, attacks society,” Fox said in announcing the appointment. But it is not only journalists covering the drug cartels who are being silenced. Last December, Lydia Cacho was arrested for writing a book, “The Demons of Eden: The Power behind Pornography.” Someone in the Mexican government wanted her silenced. In countries around the world, including the U.S., publications are censored, fined, suspended and closed down, while journalists, editors and publishers are harassed, attacked, detained and, in some instances, even murdered. The U.S. Congress is now considering a bill to make it illegal for reporters to write about anything that may be considered by government to involve national security or “classified information.” The chilling effects of any “anti-press” law diminish the public’s right to know - especially since most reporters will not know they have done something illegal until after the fact. As a result, they stop reporting the real news and start filling space with nonsense about the entertainment and sports industries. |