Imagine living in a world where you are fearful of speaking up for yourself, where you have to constantly watch the things you say and to whom you speak. When something as precious as the freedom of speech is thrown askew by violent threats to keep news hidden from the rest of the world, this freedom becomes so delicate it begins to play with the lives of innocents doing their jobs.
The city of Juarez, Mexico, recently upped its violent reputation when its newspaper El Diario de Juarez pleaded a truce towards the cartel.
Just over a week before this desperate publication tried to cut a deal, a 21-year-old photographer for El Diario de Juarez was shot and killed while driving.
The publishers were criticized by the government for trying to reach out to the cartel in such a manner — with pleas plastered all over the front page.
The situation in Juarez has become beyond complicated; the government is losing control, an unforgiving death toll increases daily — and now silence has been demanded of El Diario.
With international recognition, the city of Juarez hopes to pressure the government to interfere.
We sometimes underestimate the importance of news. It is not only a medium of worldwide communication, but also a reality check to those who live comfortably. We live in a country where we go to school and pick up a copy of the Daily Cougar and read what’s going around campus, even if it’s bad news, but we don’t see school officials or a body of students forbidding its publication, let alone slaying those who wrote the articles.
It is certain that the Juarez newspaper went to an extreme by making a frantic plea in order to get a point across, but sometimes the method has to be exaggerated. The Juarez government only complained because now the world knows they’re not doing their job well.
Is El Diario de Juarez right for showing defeat, or are they heroic figures? It takes humility to admit defeat, guts to face a large enemy, and perseverance to continue tackling a bitter fight with no end in sight.
The publishers’ cunning actions were the right ones. These writers, editors and publishers are asking for help. As readers, the most we can do is spread the news and make ourselves aware and — above all — be grateful that when we complain, we can get away with it without so much as a paper cut from a turning newspaper’s page.
Margarita Campos is a creative writing and psychology sophomore and may be reached at [email protected].
i agree with everything you say….yayay!!!!!