MEXICAN JOURNALISTS SEEKING PROTECTION AFTER REPORTING ON DRUG
WAR

MEXICO CITY - Mexican journalists gathered Thursday to denounce the
violent retaliation they have suffered for reporting on the drug war
and questioned the federal government's ability to protect freedom of
expression.

A day earlier, President Felipe Calderon reiterated his support for
making crimes against journalists a matter of federal jurisdiction,
legislation that was proposed in 2008 but has gone nowhere. He also
highlighted the creation in July of a special attorney's office for
crimes against freedom of expression.

At the forum, some applauded Calderon's move as an important step but
expressed skepticism that either the proposed law or the prosecutor's
office would do much to stop the killings, kidnappings, bombings and
threats of violence that have pushed many media outlets to simply stop
telling the story.

"Our problem now is reduced to a single word that is fatal for us:
censor," said Ismael Bojorquez, director of Rio Doce, a Sinaloa newspaper.

Newspapers in Mexico have largely restricted their reporting of the
drug war to official information. Investigative journalism has all but
ended in many areas.

"We are all heading for silence," Bojorquez said.

Journalists who are considered "inconvenient" are being hunted, said
Jorge Zepeda Patterson, a journalist and political analyst with El
Universal newspaper, and there is suspicion that in some cases it's
not only criminal organizations but government officials who are
behind the threats.

Last week, Luis Carlos Santiago, a 21-year-old photographer for El
Diario de Juarez, was shot and killed, and an intern, Carlos Manuel
Sanchez Colunga, was wounded.

Calling the criminal organizations "the de facto authorities at this
time," a recent editorial asked them directly, "What do you want from
us?" and added, "The legal authorities have not been able to do
anything to keep our colleagues from falling."

Lauren Villagran is a freelance reporter in Mexico City.