PERIODISTASMUSTPRESS FORANSWERS

BY DORAELENA CORTÉS

While we have experienced seriouslyshockingandshattering events overseveraldecades, the week of Jan. 17 to Jan. 23 was oneofthesaddestandmost difficultin yearsfor journalistsin Tijuana. Twocolleagues,known bythe greatmajority ofuswho work in journalism bythose withmany years of experiencein this fieldandbynewcomers— were shotandkilled.

Tijuana journalistsLourdes MaldonadoLópezandAlfonso Margarito MartínezEsquivel didn’tdeserve to have theirlives endthis way, butsomething wentwrong and someonedecidedtheir deathsin a very similar way.

Margarito was executedon themorning of Monday, Jan. 17, outsidehishome, whenhe was about to leave for work Lourdes was assassinatedonthe evening ofSunday, Jan. 23, insideher vehicleoutsideherhome.These deathshave unifiednational journalismin a way thatisrarely seen. Withunexpected resolve, 52 Mexicancitiessimultaneously heldprotestson Tuesday Jan. 25 to demandauthoritiessolve these incidents in a country where dozensof journalistshave diedformany reasons inthepast few years.

Unfortunately,I was notable to personally jointhemandmy other colleagues,as I wanted, becausesincethemiddleoflast yearI’ve beenfacinghealth issuesthatlimitmypresencein public. I still continue to work as ajournalist,andfollow themedia coverage.

Despite mydesire to joinso many journalists to sayfarewell, thedoctorsadded a warning of thedeadlydangerthataninfectionofCOVID-19 couldmeanat thismomentofphysicalvulnerability forme.So I had to say goodbye to both colleagues from adistance andwithmypen.

Investigationsinbothcases are underway, andwithourmore demandingsociety, it’s clearthat thepublicdoesn’t wantthe authorities to skip over doinga thoroughandfullinvestigation insteadofnaming justanyone as asuspect to keep thepublic calm.Already, pain andfear aboutwhathappenedhave affectedoursociety, and other journalists especially The real causesthatled to these deaths are stillunknown,butinboth casestheorieshave arisen,and thepublichasits own ideas.

Butwithoutknowing exactly whathappened,feelings ofhelplessness and even vulnerability have appeared and a fearof finding a murdererbehind every doorhasspread to everyone,and ismade worsewiththe realizationthat,aswithothercrimes, theperpetratorsstayunpunished.

We know that at timeslike these whenthe authorities seem to be,or reallyare, over- whelmed the criminals are on thelookout to know iftheycan continue oriftheywillfacelegal punishment.

InTijuana, we have a history ofcrimesagainst journalists El Imparcialpublisher Manuel Acosta Meza whoonce worked atTheSanDiego Tribune,and Fernando MárquezSánchez,the ownerof a printingpressusedby severalnewspapers, were killed in 1956 Noticias columnistCarlosEstradaSastré was killedin 1961. Zeta columnistHéctor“El Gato” FélixMiranda was killed in 1988 El MexicanophotographerDante Espartaco Cortés was killedin 1995.Theboydguard ofZetafounder Jesús Blancornelas was killedin 1997 in anattackthatleft the journalist withfourbullet wounds.Zeta directorFrancisco JavierOrtiz Francowas killedin2004.

Elsewhere inBajaCalifornia, there have alsobeencrimes against journalists.CNR NoticiasCanal54 reporter Luciano Rivera was killedinRosarito in 2017.

Exceptforthose whodiedin themiddleofthelastcentury,I cansay I knew them,andtherefore I’m overwhelmedwitha strange feelingknowingthat at one timethey were amongus, andnow theyaren’t.

ImetLourdes Maldonado López whenshe arrivedinTijuanainthelate 1980s andshe workedas a reporter for Televisa on channel 12.I didn’tagree with her journalisticstyle;however,I respectedher work andsometimes I foundherperformances entertaining especiallywhenI saw her reportingorpresenting anews story. I knew Margarito Martínezbecausehe workedasa photojournalistinmynews agency forsometime,and I can saythat I was surprised to see how hemanagedtheassignmentsand covered thepolice sources,which didnotalways save him fromproblemswiththe police orsomeindividuals,who forsome reason, complained abouthispress coverage. These have been too manyof thesekillings, even thoughthey have been committed overa periodofseveral decades Like everyoneelse we as journalists hopethatthere isnoriskof losingourlivessimplyfordoing our job. As journalists, we demand to practice journalism without runningthesameriskasour colleagueswhodiedin2022 ina hail of deadly bullets.Theatmosphere isuncertain and terrifying, andthatshouldn’thappenina democratic country. I urge journalists inBajaCalifornia,and across Mexico to takea stance forthe resolutionofthese and othercrimes.

Cortés isthedirector of Agencia FronterizadeNoticiasde Tijuana,adaily website. Thisessay wasinitiallywrittenin Spanishandtranslated by TheSanDiego Union-Tribune.