Center records 183 attacks against Mexico journalists in 2009

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In another stinging report about journalists’ rights in Mexico, the Center for Journalism and Public Ethics (known as CEPET in Spanish) recorded 183 ‘attacks’ against reporters in 2009, including 13 killings.

The CEPET report says the number represents a 10% increase in attacks against journalists in Mexico over 2008. The attacks include threats, arbitrary detention or intimidation, injuries and disappearances, the study says.

These figures ‘should awaken the worry of society and of authorities in particular, as the majority of these cases have not been resolved,’ the report says.

The study says the biggest increase in violence against journalists in 2009 occurred in the state of Oaxaca, where independent American journalist Brad Will was killed while covering the political unrest there in 2006. The report includes attacks against media installations, such as a grenade assault on a Televisa station in Monterrey in January 2009.

Journalists in Mexico often face intimidation or violent reprisals from politicians or organized crime for reporting on corruption and narco-related matters, media watchdogs say. Previously, La Plaza reported on a study by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists that says 32 reporters and editors have been killed in the last 10 years in Mexico.

-- Daniel Hernandez in Mexico City