A year on but still no explanation….

José Antonio García Apac (pictured), editor of the regional weekly Ecos de la Cuenca, based in the state of Michoacán was last seen on this day last year. He was on his way home to his wife and seven children when he disappeared.

Since that date, the culprits for his disappearance have not been presented by the Mexican Government and its dedicated arm, the Special Prosecution Office for the Investigation of Crimes Against Journalists (FEADP).

Journalist files complaint against local businessman, northern Mexico.

A journalist in Northern Mexico has filed a complaint against a local businessman for assault and threats.

Journalist Víctor Rubén Hernández Guerrero, director of the Semana Ahora weekly newspaper in the state of Durango, says that he was assaulted and threatened in a restaurant by businessman Javier Quiñónez Ruiz.

Mexican reform to change relationship between media and Government

A new electoral reform goes into effect in Mexico today that aims to redefine the relationship between the country’s major broadcasters and the government, and to level the political playing field.

The changes to the constitution could help improve the quality of media editorial in Mexico, and help it to become more politically independent than it currently is.

In a move which has been labeled an ‘attack on free speech’ by Mexico’s two major television stations, Televisa and TV Azteca, political parties have been banned from buying ads on television and radio stations.

Protests from the country’s two leading broadcasters are more likely due to the fact that they stand to loose millions of pesos of advertising income as a result of the reforms, rather than concerns for the right to free speech.

Drug-cartels kill journalists, says CPJ. But what about the Government?

Drug-fuelled violence against the press in Mexico is spreading. A report released yesterday by the Committee to Protect Journalists says more journalists are being killed or persecuted whilst covering the drug trade and the powerful Gulf and Sinaloa cartels in the country.

But the research from the NGO fails to address the high levels of violence perpetrated against journalists by Governmental networks that are being reported up by other organisations in Mexico.

People Profile: Straight Shooter Dario Ramirez

Dario Ramirez
Straight Shooter
By Deborah Bonello

Darío Ramírez is no naïve idealist. The 35-year-old head of Article 19’s Mexico chapter – an organization that defends and promotes freedom of expression — has been a human rights activist for more than a decade. He bluntly describes the United Nations as a “slow elephant,” Mexico’s NGO sector as ”unprofessional at times” and the country’s Access to Information Law – the “Ley Federal de Acceso a la Información Pública” – as limited at best.

Brad Will shot at close range, says investigation

Brad Will was shot by an assailant (s) just 50 centimeters away, and not from a distance of 30 meters as originally thought, according to the latest findings of the investigation of the Attorney General on the case in Mexico.

Results from the investigation into the death of the American IndyMedia journalist, shot dead in Oaxaca just over a year ago, suggest that he could have been killed by fellow protesters or members of the People’s Assembly of Oaxaca (APPO), as well as government agents or infiltrators, according to newspaper reports in Mexico last week.

The finding that he was shot at such close range contrasts with past reports on the murder of the media worker, which placed his assassins at more than 30 meters from him, and also goes against evidence and reports that suggest that Will was in fact murdered by Government sympathisers or agents.

Press Freedom Fighters Demand Legal Action in Mexico

Demands have been sent to the Mexican Government from international press freedom organisations this week calling for more vigorous legal proceedings and investigations into cases of violence against journalists.

Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists both sent letters to government officials this week following the one year anniversary of the death of Indymedia journalist Brad Will at the weekend. Will was shot dead in Oaxaca on October 27th whilst covering the teacher’s strike and violence in Oaxaca and someone has yet to be charged with his murder.

Mexico was reported to be the second most dangerous place to work in the world as a journalist after Iraq last year, according to Reporters Without Borders.

Oaxaca Remembers Brad Will

As many as 20,000 people gathered in Oaxaca City on Saturday this weekend to remember Brad Will, the American journalist shot dead a year ago.

The marchers also walked in memory of the Oaxacan teacher Alonso Fabian who was shot dead the same day during clashes between teachers and members of the APPO, and municipal police and government forces.

Police sources told press agency EFE that 20,000 people marched from the suburban municipalities of Santo Lucia and San Bartolo Coyotepec to the centre of Oaxaca City.

Bra Will was shot dead by an as yet unknown assailant on October 27th 2006 whilst covering the clashes in Oaxaca City for Indymedia. Justice has yet to be served.

One Year On, Supporters of Dead Journalist Oppose U.S Drugs Cash Proposal

Groups demanding justice for the murder of U.S journalist Brad Will, who was shot dead in Oaxaca, Mexico on this day last year, are opposing the $1.4 billion security proposal put forward by President George Bush this week as part of an initiative to help the country fight its illegal drugs trafficking problem.

Supporters demanding answers for the killing of the dead journalist argue that the money will go towards funding more human rights violations perpetrated by a corrupt state security system, which they claim were involved in the shooting.

“One year after the murder of Brad Will, no one has been arrested,” said Harry Bubbins, a media representative for Friends of Brad Will.

‘Mexican newspapers don’t explain Mexico’ says journalist

Mexican newspaper publishers sell only three million newspapers a day in a country with a population of 106 million. Most Mexican journalists will tell you that Mexican’s don’t read because Mexican newspapers have yet to get round to the job of ‘explaining Mexico’, according to Ronald Buchanan, a Scottish freelance journalist based in Mexico City.

OK, so it’s in Buchanan’s interest to say that as he is a regular writer for recently launched English-language newspaper the News in Mexico City, but he has a point. Newspapers here are rife with bias, personal attacks on politicians and partisan editorializing, making it hard if not impossible for Mexicans (never mind foreigners) to understand what’s going on.