The country has the highest rate of slayings of journalists in the world, with three reporters killed in 1997, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. Meanwhile, a less reported type of harassment also has gone on. Federal prosecutors have demanded that reporters reveal anonymous sources, and in other instances, government functionaries have brought defamation lawsuits against reporters. The prosecutor is publishing a book where he repeats those allegations, yet the reporter is being sued. Journalists here say one problem is that laws regarding the press have not been modified since about the time of the Mexican Revolution.
Reporters have no guarantee of anonymity for their sources.
Nor is there a public-records law stating what information governmental agencies must make available to the public and the press. Behind the attacks, in their various forms, is a bittersweet combination of factors. They have to do with Mexico's shredded social fabric, an economic crisis that has caused crime to skyrocket and a justice system that has crumbled under the weight of prolonged incompetence and corruption. Coupled with that are encouraging signs of a new society trying to emerge, in which everything is more open and critical, including journalism. As part of that opening, the press and broadcast media are enjoying greater freedoms and competition for stories has become fiercer.