PressEthic

Mexico has lost one of its most courageous and enduring journalists. He appears to have died of natural causes, but the numbers of assassinated journalists continues to rise.

The Editors of Mexico's El Universal said (in Spanish):

The death of journalist Jesus Blancornelas, founding director of the weekly Zeta, reminds us of his tireless fight for freedom of expression. It is also a sad reminder that the presidency of Vicente Fox draws to a close with alarming statistics of assassinated journalists, converting Mexico into one of the most dangerous places in the world to exercise this profession.

Blancornelas was already a legend in Mexico. He took on the drug cartels of Tijuana through his publication, enduring the assassination of one after another of his colleagues, and attempts on his own life.

The New York Times ran a complimentary story reporting his death, and accomplishments.

He paid a high price for his integrity. After publishing an expose on the Arellano Félix cartel in 1997, several gunmen ambushed him and his driver in his car in Tijuana. He was severely wounded in the abdomen and suffered complications for the rest of his life. His driver died.

Mr. Blancornelas’s close friend and co-founder of Zeta magazine, Héctor Félix Miranda, was assassinated in April 1988, presumably as a result of articles about corruption they had published. Another writer for the magazine, Francisco Ortíz Franco, was killed on June 22, 2004, by gunmen linked to the Tijuana cartel, a crime Mr. Blancornelas investigated tirelessly until illness incapacitated him this year.

He was unflinchingly critical of both the cartels and the failure of local and federal governments to halt the excesses of the drug trade. He often reported official complicity—equally hazardous to the health of journalists.

Reporters Without Borders grants Mexico the honor of being the most dangerous country for journalists in Latin America.

The Times also includes a memorable quote by Blancornelas:

“If I stop writing about them, if I stop saying what they are doing, they will think, ‘This guy has given up,’ ” he said. “If they see that, they will do the same to other journalists. For me, to write about them is like life insurance.”

Blancornelas will continue to serve as an inspiration to current and future journalists in Mexico and beyond.