Luis Carlos Santiago Orozco, a photographer for "El Diario", the Juarez, Mexico daily newspaper became the 11th journalist murdered this year in the Mexican drug war. He was gunned down in his car on September 17th by cartel members that didn't like the stories he was writing. He was just one of over 2200 people murdered so far this year in Juarez, the murder capital of the world.
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But this is not a story about Mr. Orozco. Journalists have been putting themselves in harms way for decades. Some in search of the truth, some for self-aggrandizement, always to get the story to their readers. This is a story about the pusillanimous publication that employed him. El Diario is the major daily newspaper in Juarez, and is well circulated in El Paso, just across the border. This newspaper with a paid circulation of over 120,000 and a readership of over 600,000 is the major source of news for this war-torn city in Northern Mexico.
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The day after the shooting of Mr. Orozco, El Diario ran a front page headline story ... Was it a tribute to a brave journalist? ... Was it a scathing rebuke of the cartel's tactics? ... NO. The story was an open letter to the cartels, asking what they could do to avoid further attacks (Mr Orozco was the second reporter from the newspaper in the past 2 years). Translated, the letter stated, "We do not want more deaths. We do not want more injuries or even more intimidation. It is impossible to exercise our role in these conditions. Therefore, tell us what you expect of us as a medium." The letter also referred to the cartels as "the de facto authorities in this city".
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So I guess now the cartels are controlling the news in Juarez. The total capitulation by El Diario is indeed an ignominious eulogy for a brave man ... trying to bring the truth to the people of his beleaguered city. And the citizens of Juarez, are faced with yet another example of the establishment abandoning them. They no longer trust their government, police, army ... and now their news sources.
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4 comments:
When I saw this I could not help but think about some of our media here in the US. While they have not submitted to the extent that these Mexican journalists have, they have submitted in many ways to the liberal administration and to the Muslims whose goal is to change the US.
Debbie
Right Truth
http://www.righttruth.typepad.com
So I guess now the cartels are controlling the news in Juarez..it sure seems that way my friend...
The drug cartels are practically the government. Much like the Mafia in Italy in the early 30s.
Paul, great post!! Maybe the US government will give the Mexican Government more money to hire police for the border towns!!. What was the last figure we gave them with no strings attached to help with this problem??? Seems it didn't work. We will try again. can't have that happening right next door. Of course we could wait for the North American Union. Then we could inlist Canada for help also.....Stay well....
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