Journalism in Times of Threats, Censorship and Violence
chapter 6 Conclusion
The question of how to produce quality journalism while keeping reporters safe in the violent and constantly changing environment of drug trafficking on the Mexico–U.S. border will not be answered with a single workshop, especially when the violence is constantly evolving, bringing new challenges to the press in different areas every day. However, the Knight Center’s seminar in Austin was a very useful experience, providing a space where participants discussed the theoretical and realworld aspects of violence and drugs. They shared valuable perspectives and took advantage of the opportunity to meet colleagues working in similar circumstances on both sides of the border. As we have discussed, networking is important for reporters who cover the border. It helps keep them safe and gives them a support system to assist them in times of violence. The panelists made it clear that the problems faced by U.S. and Mexican journalists are not the same, and that each cohort still faces its own battles. Those from the north of the Rio Grande are struggling to find space for news about the border in their media outlets, while journalists from south of the border are in a daily struggle to survive the drug violence and its physical and psychological effects. The Mexican drug trade is evolving, and so are the dynamics that drive it. In the past, drug violence was limited to certain regions or territories, especially in areas with heavy concentration of drug production and trafficking. It was dominated by certain families who were already widely known. Now, there are new groups, and the job of hit man has been professionalized. Instead of being a byproduct of drug trafficking, violence has become a strategy for criminal groups to gain access to, and control of, new businesses like piracy, kidnapping and extortion. It is precisely in this new world, as one of the participants of the seminar said, that journalism is most necessary: amid threats, censorship and violence. The forum’s main take-away is that it raised participants’ awareness of the numerous challenges they face in trying to report, and how those obstacles both constrain them and present new opportunities in journalism. The world needs to know what —.60 —