April 2022
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A protester holds a sign during a demonstration against the murder of three Mexican journalists. The ARTICLE 19 organization has documented 148 murders of journalists in Mexico since 2000 (Cesar Gomez/SOPA Images/Sipa via AP Photo)


** From the assistant editor
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After reading Javier Garza Ramos’ most recent piece ([link removed]) , I’ve grown fascinated by the history of Mexico’s local media. Overshadowed by the country’s national outlets, small-town publications played a critical role in demanding government accountability in the 1970s and ‘80s, and in ultimately removing Mexico’s ruling party, the PRI, from the presidency in 2000. It’s a captivating history, highlighting how journalism — and particularly, smaller outlets — serve democracy and accountability.

But today, Mexico’s local media are in danger, Garza Ramos reports. Editorial independence is now in a precarious position as city and state governments threaten to pull advertisements if coverage is unfavorable. And violence against journalists runs rampant throughout Mexico, but especially in small towns and medium-sized cities. In the first few weeks of 2022, at least seven Mexican journalists have been killed — a number that already matches that of the previous year.
Read the full piece ([link removed])
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has done little to address the increasing threats to journalists. Instead, he denounces journalists in his press briefings for launching investigations into his administration. “In Mexico today,” Garza Ramos writes, “a state governor, city mayor, police chief, drug boss, or petty criminal thinking about attacking a journalist for publishing something they do not like can have the certainty that they will get away with it. Why shouldn’t they? Even the president thinks that journalists are the enemy.”

Mexico isn’t the only country where journalists are labeled “enemies,” newsrooms are squeezed, and reporting can be a deadly task. From Kashmir to Hong Kong to Russia and beyond, journalism faces physical, political and, especially under authoritarian regimes, increasingly existential threats. Garza Ramos’ piece is the first in our new series, Reporting at Risk ([link removed]) , stories by journalists who are managing to do vital independent reporting — often at great personal risk.

I hope you read along as we continue to highlight the extraordinary, important work of journalists working in hostile environments.


Wishing you all the best,
Natalie De Rosa
Assistant Editor, Nieman Reports
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** Don't Look Away: Photojournalists are Documenting the Brutality of Russia's War in Ukraine ([link removed])
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There are layers to bearing witness, from the war's victims, to journalists in the field, to readers like you

Read more ([link removed])

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** Dr. Ashish Jha on Bracing for the Pandemic's Third Year ([link removed])
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The leading public health expert discusses the press’ role in relaying public health directives, combating misinformation, and more

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** How Misinformation Helped Fuel a Public Health Crisis ([link removed])
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A new book argues that Covid-19 also spurred an “infodemic” as governments censored critical public health information

Read more ([link removed])


** More from Nieman Foundation publications:
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What a modern reading of “The Canterbury Tales” can teach us ([link removed])

A journalist's mother tuned her, and then her daughter, into the sound of written language by reading Chaucer aloud in Middle English

Read more from Nieman Storyboard ([link removed]) . ([link removed])

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Journalism groups: Make the Pulitzers open only to news orgs that are transparent about their diversity ([link removed])

An open letter calls on the industry’s highest honors to include a new participation clause. “By implementing this new criteria, the Pulitzers would honor not only great journalism, but journalism from newsrooms willing to be accountable to the public.”

Read more from Nieman Lab ([link removed]) .
Read more from Nieman Reports ([link removed])
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