Freedom of Expression

Carlos Lemus International Communication 10/30/2018

Is Freedom of Expression reliable in Mexico? (A threat amongst journalist desiring to deal with reality)

INTRODUCTION

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.” (Article 19, Universal Declaration

of Human Rights) These past words will form the foundation of this paper. Furthermore, freedom of

expression is the essence of a journalist. That said, a journalists´s duty consists of reporting what is

occurring. But, do journalists in Mexico really outline the truth they desire to convey?

A journalist in Mexico has “lived in this hell for some time now,” according to Octavio Bravo, a

journalist staring at the coffin of his colleague gunned down in Veracruz, Mexico last year (Ahmed,

Azam). However, what does Bravo´s expression “this hell” tell us about Mexico´s situation? Clear-

ly, nothing positive. With this in mind, it was evident that a headline such as “Journalists in Mexico

under threat from cartels, government, and even each other,” was going to unveil. Duncan Tucker, a

freelance journalist occasionally working for Al-Jazeera and Indexoncensorship framed the matter

in such a way. Al-Jazeera is one of the biggest Media companies in the world, with the objective “to

provide the most accurate and comprehensive coverage that we could by sending cameras and re-

porters to any place there is an event.” (Miles, Hughes). Meanwhile, Indexoncensorship “publishes

an award-winning quarterly magazine that has featured some of the world’s best-known writers,” on

issues relating to censorship or boundaries to freedom of expression (Indexoncensorship). In a like

manner, the media company and the magazine frame censorship as a real issue nowadays.

These past facts, only undermine the negative situation journalists face. That said, this paper is go-

ing to explore and research the causes that lead to the threat of freedom of expression, taking into

account security and auto-censorship as the main aspects. The information elaborated are premises

born out of arguments and situations taken place on field in Mexico.

HYPOTHESES

The structure of this paper is at follows. First, an illustration of the “freedom of expression” security

phenomena in Mexico is going to be introduced and elaborated upon. Second, the issue of auto-cen-

sorship will be presented and analysed in convergence with the security phenomena previously stat-

ed. The illustration is meant to portray:

1. The odds journalists live by trying to do their jobs and narrate reality as it should from

2017-2018.

Similarly, my analysis aims to determine how:

2. Security and auto-censorship go hand-in-hand nowadays.

The following questions are going to be examined to provide enough background to comprehend

life as a journalist in Mexico. They are:

1. What does a journalist understand by freedom when security is a boundary?

2. Do journalists need to auto-censor themselves to be safe?

3. Is there such thing as freedom of expression in Mexico?

The aforementioned questions mission is to highlight how freedom of expression should be free and

how security has a cost in Mexico. For this reason, I want to recall key events revolving these issues

from early 2017 up to October 2018.

Amnesty International´s mission is to “take action focused on preventing and ending grave abuses

of human rights.” (Amnesty International). Considering the background of Amnesty International,

an article written on May 3rd, 2018 by Jésica Zermeño on the “efforts of freedom of press by jour-

nalists” will exemplify how big of a boundary security has become when doing factual and objec-

tive reporting. Then, Amnesty International also covers the story of a “fifth journalist killed” as-

saulted for his freedom of expression attitude last year on May 15, 2017. This trend has been com-

mon for many years in the past and from 2017 to 2018 it has shown no improvement whatsoever.

The security measures taken place have not been efficient in the past years, explains Ahmed Azam

on his May 5, 2017 article on The New York Times “Mexico’s President Vows to Step Up Protec-

tions for Journalists.” (Ahmed, Azam). It goes back to Enrique Peña Nieto´s presidency and the fail

attempt to improve the situation of journalists. The bottom line here is the nature of the principle of

freedom. Therefore, details on the death of Mexican journalist “Rene Orta Salgado” will be provid-

ed to focus on what is freedom on field and the possible consequences acting professionally could

imply. For this reason, I am going to use his case to emphasise the intensity of the situation taking

place (de la O, Moravia).

As a result, this paper should explore how liberty of expression is a threat in Mexico in three as-

pects. First, the dangerous situation experienced by journalists trying to convey the truth. Second,

the role auto-censorship takes. At last, how the dangerous situation in convergence with auto-cen-

sorship makes reporting objective and factual information almost impossible.

SOURCES

1. ”Universal Declaration Of Human Rights". Un.Org, 2018, http://www.un.org/en/universal-dec- laration-human-rights/. Accessed 30 Oct 2018.

2. Ahmed, A. (2017, April 29). In Mexico, 'It's Easy to Kill a Journalist'. Retrieved from https:// www.nytimes.com/2017/04/29/world/americas/veracruz-mexico-reporters-killed.html

3. 3. Miles, H. (2011, February 09). The Al Jazeera Effect. Retrieved from https://foreignpolicy.- com/2011/02/09/the-al-jazeera-effect-2/

4. 4. Index on Censorship. (2017, December 19). Conference Report: Taking the offensive – de- fending artistic freedom of expression in the UK. Retrieved from https://www.indexoncensor- ship.org/takingtheoffensive/

5. 5. Our Vision, Mission and Values. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.amnesty.org.uk/our-vi- sion-mission-and-values

6. 6. Zermeño, J. (2018, May 3). In Mexico freedom of the press only exists because of the efforts of my colleagues. Retrieved from https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/05/in-mexico- freedom-of-the-press-only-exists-because-of-the-efforts-of-my-colleagues/

7. 7. Reneaum, T (2017, May 15). Mexico: Fifth journalist killed this year in sickening assault on freedom of expression. Retrieved from https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/05/mexi- co-quinto-homicidio-de-un-periodista-en-el-ano-la-libertad-de-expresion-bajo-amenaza/

8. 8. Ahmed, A. (2017, May 05). Mexico's President Vows to Step Up Protections for Journalists. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/05/world/americas/mexico-journalists-free- dom-of-expression.html

9. De la O, M. (n.d.). Freedom of Expression in Mexico Threatened as Journalists are Systemati- cally Targeted. Retrieved from http://witnessforpeace.org/freedom-of-expression-in-mexico- threatened-as-journalists-are-systematically-targeted/