Por: Viridiana Ríos, Harvard University
A well-functioning press is crucial for sustaining a healthy democracy. While at- tacks on journalists occur regularly in many developing countries, previous work has largely ignored where and why journalists are attacked. Focusing on violence by crim- inal organizations in Mexico, we offer the first systematic, micro-level analysis of the conditions under which journalists are more likely to be violently targeted. Contrary to popular belief, our evidence reveals that the presence of large, profitable crimi- nal organizations does not necessarily lead to violence against the press. Rather, the likelihood of journalists being killed only increases when rival criminal groups inhabit territories. Rivalry inhibits criminal organizations’ ability to control information leaks to the press, instead creating incentives for such leaks to be used as weapons to inten- sify official enforcement operations against rivals. Without the capacity to informally govern press content, rival criminals affected by such press coverage are more likely to target journalists.
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