State of Silence

Mexico is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists. But courageous reporters continue to do their work regardless; without the press there would be no one revealing the extent to which crime and politics are intermingled. The judicial system hides behind claims of insufficient evidence to prosecute crimes, while journalists are the ones who provide such evidence.

In State of Silence four journalists discuss their work. One of them investigates illegal logging and environmental pollution, while another writes about police violence against migrants attempting to cross the border. The risks are great, and threats are commonplace. Almost 200 reporters have disappeared or been murdered since 2000.

A law was passed under President López Obrador enabling journalists and human rights activists to seek refuge in the US—but doesn’t leaving everything that you love behind you, mean the criminals have won? Some of the journalists return to Mexico because their work is too important. “When a journalist is murdered,” says one of them, “society’s right to be informed dies, too.”