By Martha Ramos
Editor’s note: This essay is part of CNTI’s “Letters from the Field” series, in which journalists from around the world share their experiences reporting in restrictive spaces and share advice for journalists in the U.S.
At the beginning of the 21st century, many expected technology to evolve and usher in greater autonomy. As we conclude the first quarter of the century, reality has proven otherwise.
The recap of 2024, a major election year, has revealed a strong global trend toward authoritarianism and populist governments, moving away from the “ideal” model of democracy.
While there is still much analysis needed to understand voter behavior, today we will focus on one of the most alarming consequences of this shift: the growing threats to journalism. Attacks on freedom of expression are no longer sporadic — they are constant, sophisticated, multifaceted, loud and dangerous.
For journalists in Latin America, this is not a new phenomenon. It is, however, becoming more severe. We watch with growing concern the rhetoric coming from the White House; if the President of the United States feels entitled to insult, expel and block journalists, leaders worldwide will feel emboldened to do the same.
How the Attacks Begin: Government Harassment
By targeting the media and journalists, government leaders seek to portray them as enemies in order to control the narrative and eliminate criticism. This is often followed by the weakening of democratic structure, the dismantling of autonomous institutions and the erosion of basic rights, from the right to information to the right to free association.
Political leaders, from both right and left parties, have developed what seems to be a pattern. In Mexico for example, ex-President López Obrador frequently accused the media of being his enemy. This rhetoric soon reflected on our experiences in the streets. Our journalists were verbally attacked during public events just because they were journalists. These attacks quickly escalated on social media, where bots were used to discredit reporters’ work and to expose the details of their private lives, especially of women reporters.
We saw the birth and growth of news websites that were aligned with the president’s policies, who were not concerned with journalistic ethics and acted as mouth pieces for the administration.
From there, and with Congress and the Senate aligned, it was easy to change laws, disappear institutions dedicated to ensuring transparency in public information and even misrepresent statistics about the economy and social security.
The same model was replicated by former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, then President Javier Milei in Argentina, then in El Salvador and Costa Rica, and it goes on and on.
The President of the United States is now following this same route.
How the Attacks Continue: Violence and News Deserts
Compounding the ongoing threat of government harassment are the entrenched threats of violence and organized crime — present not only in many Latin American countries but increasingly in the United States.
Mexico remains the most dangerous country for journalists, but cases of murders, imprisonment and harassment are emerging in Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Peru and Honduras, according to the Inter American Press Association’s biannual press freedom reports.
Cases of violence against journalists have been on the rise in the U.S., too. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented 80 incidents of assault against journalists and 49 incidents of arrests of or criminal charges pressed against journalists in 2024.
These incidents represent the most serious threats to journalists’ physical safety and are a primary cause of the spread of so-called news deserts.
News deserts — areas where it is nearly impossible to report due to extreme violence or criminal control — are growing across Latin America. These are often zones dominated by organized crime, such as drug trafficking, human trafficking and, in recent years, environmental destruction.
Despite these extreme working conditions, however, journalists’ commitment has not wavered.
In Tamaulipas, Mexico, where mothers looking for their loved ones are well organized (madres buscadoras), it was impossible for them, and us reporters, to access what they thought was a graveyard. Even the police didn’t want to go there. So the mothers came to a truce with the drug leaders, allowing them to visit the site for a few days with us by their side. That was at least three years ago. To this day, the photos and footage my colleagues and I took during that short visit are the only ones the Mexican media has of that site.
In the United States, “news desert” refers to something different — it describes an area with limited access to local news, often because of a lack of funding for community news outlets. But journalists in the U.S. experience our kind of “news deserts,” too, when they are assaulted at protests, locked out of meetings or sued for their coverage — when dangerous people in power try to prevent them from reporting.
Regardless of the cause of the news desert, though, it is imperative to maintain some form of information flow to preserve awareness of what is happening in these regions.
The Role of Journalism Remains Unchanged
Despite the many threats they face, journalists in Mexico and across Latin America are able to keep on going. We´ve learned new strategies to protect our work, our newsrooms and ourselves. Associations at the local, regional and international level have a great role to play, as well, of shedding light on whatever new threats pop up.
Journalists in the United States should keep going, too.
One truth remains: the core principles of journalism have not changed. Journalism is a service to the community — a critical lens on the realities affecting society.
Denying journalists access to government offices only partially hinders their work. The real stories and issues are in the community itself. History is written when a reporter publishes an account of local events.
In the face of governmental obstruction, declining transparency and intimidation strategies, there is one clear response: better journalism. Journalism that is well-written, verified, verifiable, humane, explanatory, and timely. That is the path forward.
Martha Ramos is president of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information at the Inter American Press Association (SIP / IAPA), member of the World Editors Forum at WAN-IFRA and chief editorial officer of Organización Editorial Mexicana (OEM).
