While researching the drug violence in Mexico for a policy option paper, I ran into a news story that discuses how being a journalist in the country might be one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. If you don’t know, drug cartels in Mexico are at war with each other vying for turf on the drug trafficking routes into the United States. This billion dollar industry of trafficking illicit drugs into the United States has led to about 35,000 deaths since 2006. Some are even calling Mexico a failed state because of the lack of control the government has on their people and combating this craziness. The Mexican officials and military are doing the best they can with trying to gain control of this country but it is so hard with all of the cartels controlling the people in a war within the country. And guess who has to get up close and personal and still cover the news??? The journalists/reporters. They risk their lives each and everyday, whether it be covering another shooting or trying to report on corruption within the Mexican police and governments being paid off by the drug lords.
In Mexico, covering the drug violence in Juarez (the biggest drug related violence city in Mexico) is said to be the most dangerous beat. A beat, in journalism, is a particular topic that a journalist covers. Journalists in Juarez, among other cities in Mexico, get directly involved in the drug war. When they cover a story, they have to watch the questions that they ask, and they even have to make sure that they don’t put too much information in their stories because of fear that leaking too much can get them killed. They also have to worry about the video footage that they capture. “I would rather film some other type of news, but actually this is what is happening here. We could not ignore this,” says Augustine Maysa who is a camera man and reporter for channel 44 covering the drug war in Juarez. Augustine has caught some of the most crazy footage that I have ever seen including shootouts, grenade explosions and shooting explicit images of a crime scene. He says that on any given day, the reporters and journalists can be somewhere and not know if they will lose their life that day while covering the story. He explains that it’s not the fact that reporters and journalists are covering these war stories, but how these stories are told that matter. Augustine’s news director realizes the danger of sending out reporters after many of his colleagues have been killed because of a story they wrote. He said that journalist in Juarez stay alive because of things they don’t say and that their is no government authority that would keep them safe in the city.
Many of these reporters only report what happens on the streets, but does not attempt to dig up juicy facts that make a story good because that might cause them their life. This year alone, 8 journalist have been killed and 74 have been killed since 2000 covering the drug war. The killings of journalist are investigated but are hardly ever solved. Many journalist get death threats for unveiling too much. If their stories are said to be too ‘juicy,’ sometimes the editors would still run the story but not use the reporters name. From questioning fellow gang and family members of someone deceased, or catching footage of a shootout hoping to not get caught in the crossfire, these people risk their lives as if they were in the police or military or as if they were at war too. These journalists have something beautiful inside of them that allows them to do their job. They have this passion that motivates them to continue doing what they love, even if that means getting involved in the conflict itself. They could easily change their job choice to a more safer occupation, but they stick with this because they love what they do. This passion inspires me to pursue a career in exactly what I'm passionate about and not settling for a job because it's the 'safe' job pick. The story of the work that reporters/journalists do, is something very admirable and my hat comes off to you.
Alexis Roe
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