An Archive of Murdered Journalists: Preserving the Memory of Mexico's Reporters

Mexico remains one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalists, where attacks and killings continueto occur on a regular basis. Mexican journalist and writer Alejandra Ibarra Chaoul has created an archive preserving the work of murdered reporters. It now contains more than 19,000 stories produced by 84 Mexican journalists.Through this project, Ibarra Chaoul also challenges common assumptions about violence against journalists inMexico. Many people believe that reporters are primarily targeted by criminal cartels and that the victims are mostly investigative journalists covering organized crime. But her research reveals a very different reality. Many of themurdered reporters focused on local issues such as the lack of running water or mayors failing to deliver on promises to their communities. Some covered these stories through opinion pieces or satire, while others worked as taxi driversor restaurant owners and practiced journalism alongside another profession.The archive shows that journalists killed in Mexico are not only reporters from major national newsrooms investigating organized crime. They are often local journalists whose work held power to account in their own communities.Although the Mexican government has introduced measures to protect journalists and investigate these crimes, thosewho carry out the murders are usually the only people prosecuted. The individuals who order the killings have never been brought to justice, Ibarra Chaoul says.In this episode, journalist Natalia Gumenyuk speaks with Alejandra Ibarra Chaoul about the realities of journalism in Mexico, efforts by individual states to reduce violence against reporters, why she decided to build this archive, and how the work of murdered journalists can be preservedand remembered.This publication/article has been produced with the support of the ‘Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine’.The content of this publication/article is the sole responsibility of [organisation name] and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Fund and/or of its Financing Partners.