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The last few years have been characterized by extreme difficulty for the global press. In addition to the public’s declining trust in traditional media, there has been a significant increase in anti-journalist violence, censorship and repression. This is especially the case in Latin America. In 2021, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) described the working environment in the region as “hostile” and “toxic”. In their annual World Press Freedom ranking, much of Latin America was represented in the bottom half. Journalists’ jobs have been made progressively more difficult by lack of government transparency and direct efforts to make it more challenging to access official information and data. Moreover, populist politicians on both the left and right have increasingly attempted to demonize the press by promoting a narrative of ‘the media vs the people’, characterising journalists as part of an oppressive and manipulative elite which deceives the masses. These actions have helped to create a hostile climate for the press to operate in, leading to journalists being frequently intimidated and threatened.
The start of 2022 has shown no positive change with January bringing the deaths of three reporters, an event described by the Director of the RSF in Latin America as a “bloodbath for Mexican Journalism”. Two of these reporters had publicly stated that they had received threats and feared for their lives. They had even requested extra protection from the state. On 25 January, thousands of Mexican journalists took to the streets to demand justice for their colleagues and denounce the government’s inaction which had endangered their lives.
The current Mexican government’s relationship with the press is anything but friendly. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has referred to some journalists as “corrupt and fundamentalists”. Last year he even took time out of his daily morning press conferences to scold individual journalists and newspapers whose work he considered to have been written “in bad faith”. He called this segment “the lies of the week”. As part of this spectacle aimed at denigrating and discrediting journalists, he mockingly gave out an award called the “Pinocchio of the Week” to the news article he considered the most ‘fake’.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro gives a joint statement with Hungarian PM Viktor Orban, in Budapest, Hungary, February 17, 2022. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo
On the other side of the political spectrum, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has also chosen to turn the press into his number one enemy. True to his Trumpian style, Bolsonaro dedicates an extraordinary amount of time to insulting and attempting to humiliate journalists who, according to him, report only “rumours and lies”. One of his many colourful declarations regarding the press is that some media are “worse than garbage, because garbage is recyclable”. Aside from the irony of a renowned climate sceptic like Bolsonaro talking about recycling, the phrase reveals the increasingly aggressive attitude of some politicians towards the press. This antagonism has gotten significantly worse since the start of the pandemic, with Bolsonaro accusing journalists of exaggerating the risks posed by the virus and at one point even claiming that “the press is responsible for the panic in the country and the loss of lives during the pandemic”.
In Peru, President Pedro Castillo has repeatedly accused the press of “obstructionism” and he refused to engage with them during the first few months of his presidency. His party’s government plan referred to the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), an advocate of freedom of expression, as “an organization that concretizes the power of the continental media to defend the economic power of the American oligarchy”. Since last year’s presidential elections popularized this kind of rhetoric, several journalists have reported having been verbally and physically aggressed by both politicians and their supporters. But what has made the danger to the press even clearer is journalist Christopher Acosta’s recent conviction. The verdict outraged the Peruvian press, who denounced it as a major blow to freedom of speech. Acosta was sentenced to two years of suspended imprisonment for ‘crimes against honour and aggravated defamation’, having written a biography of political leader and powerful businessman, Cesar Acuña. The book quotes people in Acuña’s entourage and the declarations in it are supported by official documents, leading the publisher, Penguin Random House, to argue that there is no factual or legal basis for the judgement and that they will contest the decision.
These recent events across Latin America demonstrate a significant threat to investigative journalism, an essential element in a region characterized by rampant corruption and widespread disillusionment with the political system. Without a fully functioning press which mediates between the government and the general public there can be no working democracy. Journalists are the only ones keeping the people in power in accountable. They must be adequately protected and allowed to act freely and independently.
Written by Natalia Mesa-Koch
Illustrations by Rosie Phillips
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