Mexican journalists protest against violence towards journalists in Mexico placing on the ground pictures of murdered journalists, on August 7, 2010 in Mexico City. More than 60 journalists have been killed in Mexico during the last decade, many of them by drug traffickers.Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP / Getty Images
The government of Mexico alone cannot succeed in its battle against the drug cartels. It needs the support of the country's political class, and of civil society, including judges, police officers, prosecutors and journalists, who must stand firm against the threats of criminal syndicates seeking to silence them.
The recent kidnapping of four television journalists in the northern state of Durango shows the extraordinary reach of organized crime. The Sinaloa cartel abducted the journalists to force news organizations to air its propaganda: homemade videos implicating a rival gang, the Zetas, in the corruption of local authorities. (Fearing for their employees' safety, one of the outlets did briefly air the videos.)
Authorities were quick to arrest the suspects in this incident, and the journalists were released unharmed. The incident was followed by President Felipe Calderon's call for support from all sectors of society for the government's stand against the drug traffickers, and an avowal to not back down as some are urging him to do. Since he came to office in 2006, more than 28,000 people have been killed in narcotics-related violence, including 30 journalists.
Some media organizations have stopped reporting on drug violence altogether, handing the cartels a victory, and undermining Mexican democracy and citizens' right to free expression. A notable exception is Zeta magazine, a weekly based in the border city of Tijuana, that has vowed to continue reporting on drug trafficking, even after its editor was killed. But in Nuevo Laredo and Reynosa, other cities along Mexico's northern border, journalists have been frightened into self-censorship, fearful to publish stories that shed a negative light on the gangs, who are battling both state security forces and one another for control over the multi-billion dollar trade.
Criminal gangs cannot be allowed to dictate media coverage. Mexican institutions must not give in to intimidation, but should rather stand together against organized crime and for a free media. Improving the investigative capacity and authority of the judicial and security sectors will bolster freedom of the press, and embolden journalists to continue exposing drug trafficking and official corruption. This in turn can only strengthen Mexican democracy.