Freedom of Expression is a fundamental right in Mexico, guaranteed under articles 6 and 7 of the country’s constitution. In 1951, President Miguel Alemán designated June 7 as the date for commemorating La Libertad de Expresión.

So it was that last week, members of the Chapala press pool sat down together for breakfast and dialogue about our work in an era of heightened controversy over the role of media in modern society.

Conversation turned on the battle royale going on north of the border between President Donald Trump and the mainstream media. We weighed views on which side is dominating in the dissemination of fake news. Not surprisingly, our sympathies leaned towards colleagues who have been discredited and vilified by the Chief of State. Yet there’s no denying that an aura of distrust and intolerance runs both ways in the court of public opinion. 

Freedom of the press is likewise under assault here in Mexico, in even more alarming ways. Reporters who step on powerful toes are frequently discredited by their enemies or, worse still, faced with very real dangers of being silenced by physical violence.   

Under the simple headline “¡Adios!”, the Ciudad Juarez daily El Norte announced it was ceasing publication in early April to avoid putting staffers in peril. The decision came ten days after hard-hitting reporter Miroslavia Breach was gunned down outside her home in Chihuahua.  

According to some sources, as many as 37 Mexican journalists have been murdered over the past five years. Nine have been assassinated and another gone missing this year alone. Close to 400 cases of aggression against reporters were registered in 2016. It’s estimated that perhaps half of those incidents were perpetrated by public officials.

Earlier this month, Guadalajara mayor Enrique Alfaro went ballistic, labeling leading media outlets that have been critical of his administration as basura (rubbish). NTR (AWAITING CLARIFICATION FROM DALE) director Guillermo Ortega fired back in a video message that went viral. Equating Alfaro’s posture to a page out of the Trump playbook, he challenged the mayor to provide proof that negative news stories were false. 

“The mission of the journalist is to investigate in order to offer society information that is truthful and reliable. Our heritage is credibility and confidence,” Ortega declared. Alfaro backed down with a rather lame apology issued on Freedom of Expression Day. 

The wave of violence against the media has not yet touched the lakeside area. However, local reporters do complain of suffering intimidation and harassment by local government officials or their anonymous surrogates who bristle at news stories that put the current administration in a bad light.

Holding back advertising is another tactic employed to control the tone of press reports. And whether by design or default, opacity in the release of complete and credible information about government business has become a huge handicap for reporters intent on duly serving the public.

But the right of freedom of expression goes beyond the role of the press. Citizens of today have discovered social media as an easy outlet to openly share their ideas, opinions, and yes, even fake news. And try as they might, the power players have not figured out a way to muzzle conventional wisdom.