San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial

The cartels and the press

Reporters’ deaths another tragedy of Mexican drug war

Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 12:02 a.m.

All over Mexico, the word is out: practicing good journalism can be hazardous to your health. And that’s how the drug cartels want it.

One of the latest casualties was Jose Luis Romero, a radio journalist in the Northern Mexico state of Sinaloa known for his broadcasts on drug trafficking. Romero had been abducted from a restaurant at gunpoint a few weeks ago. Over the weekend, the journalist’s body was found along a highway.

Before Romero, it was ValentÃ*n Valdés Espinosa, a 29-year-old reporter who was kidnapped and later found tortured and shot to death in the state of Coahuila. Espinosa was found with a message that read: “This is going to happen to those who don’t understand. The message is for everyone.â€