Gang Violence Threatens Mexican Journalists

              As gang violence continues to escalate along with kidnappings and murder in Northern Mexico, the freedom and safety of journalists in the region are being threatened.

This was one of many discouraging revelations about the state of the Mexican press German journalist Laura Schneider gave to a University of Georgia journalism class during an interview Monday morning.

             The threat of murder by drug gangs, especially in smaller Northern Mexican towns, has a devastating effect on journalists, causing many to self-censor themselves and leaving few to want to be the first to report controversial news, Schneider explained.

Schneider, 27, recently worked for a Mexican newspaper, and when there was a recent event where over 30 people were murdered by a gang, “no journalists of the local newspaper wanted to write about it because they’re afraid for their lives if they do.”

The University of Hamburg graduate was even personally affected by the escalating dangers, admitting that one of her fellow journalist had been kidnapped while she was there.

“I think it’s like a vicious circle. If you don’t know what’s happening, you can’t react to it. And if you can’t react to it, more things will happen and journalists will still self censor themselves,” Schneider explained.