Latin America & the Caribbean

Mexico

{This graph represents scores that have been modified by CIMA so that higher scores indicate a better media situation. It is intended to show trends over time; each index measures significantly different factors of press freedom. To see an explanation for how this graph was created, click here.}
 

In February 1989, the Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey established Mexico’s first internet connection.1Despite dramatic growth in internet penetration over the last 21 years, the majority of the population, particularly in rural areas, still lacks affordable access. This is largely due to infrastructural deficiencies and high prices resulting from ownership concentration in the telecommunications sector. Nevertheless, access to the internet is expanding, government initiatives are underway to narrow the digital divide, and mobile-phones are widely available.
 

Read more on Freedom House's site...

Reporters Without Borders Description:

The situation in Mexico is dire. At least four journalists have been murdered since the start of the 2010: José Luis Romero of radio Línea Directa (in the state of Sinaloa), Valentín Valdés Espinosa of the newspaper El Zócalo de Saltillo (Coahuila), Jorge Ochoa Martínez, the editor of the daily El Sol de la Costa (Guerrero) and Evaristo Pacheco Solís of the weekly Visión Informativa (Guerrero). Eight other journalists were reportedly kidnapped in Reynosa, in the state of Tamaulipas, with one dying under torture. The 2009 toll was disastrous, with a total of 11 journalists killed. It has been established beyond doubt in three of these cases that the motive was linked to the victim’s work. With 61 journalists murdered since 2000 and nine other cases of disappearances since 2003, Mexico has long been the region’s deadliest country for the press.

The entire country is affected by the violence but it is worse in the north, the scene of the bitterest fighting among the cartels for the control of drug trafficking.

Read more on RSF’s site…

Organized crime groups exerted fierce pressure on the Mexican press as their control spread across vast regions and nearly every aspect of society. Pervasive self-censorship by news media in areas under drug traffickers' influence was a devastating consequence of violence and intimidation. Ten journalists were killed, at least three in direct relation to their work, and three other reporters disappeared. In addition, journalists were assaulted, kidnapped, or forced into exile, while media outlets were targeted by bomb attacks, making Mexico one of the world's deadliest places for the press. After meeting with a CPJ delegation, President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa pledged to push for legislation making attacks on free expression a federal crime, and announced the launch of a security program for at-risk reporters.

Read more on CPJ’s site...

Visit IFEX’s Site for Recent News on Media in this Country