Seventh journalist killed in just six months in Mexico

A deadly assault on journalism in Mexico has claimed another life. Crime reporter Norma Sarabia has been murdered as he becomes the seventh journalist to die this year. Sarabia was 46-years old. He had received death threats for denouncing police corruption. He was gunned down on Tuesday.

She was returning home in Huimanguillo, a city in the south-eastern state of Tabasco. One of her close friend, Laurencio Palma, told the news website Animal Político that, “She was such a hard worker … she always liked to get to the news first.” Mexico is a dangerous place for journalism and journalists. Mexico’s national human rights commission has revealed shocking things about the state of the country.

They say that Sarabia was the 149th Mexican journalist to be killed since 2000. Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries to be a journalist. Tabasco Hoy had written an article for Sarabia’s newspaper. Hoy had slammed the politicians for which how they treated the slaughter of Mexican journalists. Luis Antonio Vidal, the head of the local press association, had written, “Apparently the powerful care little about these murders.”

A journalist was kidnapped just 12 hours after the slaying of Sarabia. The authorities in the eastern state of Veracruz became active after the outrage of Sarabia’s killing and announced that the kidnapped journalist was freed. The kidnapped journalist was Marcos Miranda Cogco. He was an editor and was kidnapped on Wednesday.

Mexico’s president López Obrador, was praised or including pledges to respect freedom of expression and shun censorship in his inaugural address last December. But there are reports that about 10 journalists have been killed since he took office. Journalist representatives say that there aren’t any meaningful steps taken to protect the journalists.