Press freedom operates in a complex environment marked by incidents of violence, judicial harassment, and ongoing tensions between public authorities and the work of journalists.
IAPA Midyear Meeting. April 23 - 24, 2026.
Press freedom operates in a complex environment marked by incidents of violence, judicial harassment, and ongoing tensions between public authorities and the work of journalists.
The killing of two journalists, judicial pressure against media outlets, and debates over the use of official advertising highlight an environment of risk and structural challenges that continue to affect journalism.
During the period, journalists Miguel Ángel Beltrán Martínez and Carlos Castro were killed.
Beltrán Martínez identified himself on TikTok as “El Capo” and on Facebook as La Gazzeta de Durango, where he reported on violence and organized crime in the state of Durango. He was last seen alive on October 23. Two days later, his body was found in the town of Río Chico, Durango, showing signs of violence and carrying an intimidating message.
Castro was the director of the Facebook-based outlet Código Norte Veracruz in the city of Poza Rica, in the state of Veracruz. He covered security issues and had collaborated with the outlets Vanguardia, Noreste, La Opinión de Poza Rica, and Enfoque. He had reported threats and, in 2024, was granted protection measures that were withdrawn months before the crime.
These events occurred in the context of high impunity, identified by experts as a factor contributing to the recurrence of such crimes.
Media and journalists continue to face judicial harassment. Authorities filed a case against the newspaper Vanguardia in Coahuila over an alleged commercial dispute that led to asset seizure orders. The detention of its director, Armando Castilla, was regarded by international organizations as a dangerous precedent for freedom of expression. At the same time, lawsuits in Campeche against journalists critical of the state administration led by Governor Layda Sansores raised concern.
In that same state, on October 21, the attorney general asked Telemar to turn over information on journalists and editors behind 59 articles about Governor Sansores, under threat of administrative sanctions. This is compounded using legal mechanisms—such as the right to honor, personal data protection, gender-based political violence, and copyright—to request the removal of journalistic content without a court order, as warned by the Digital Rights Defense Network on October 28.
The environment is also affected by high levels of attacks, particularly against women journalists and human rights defenders, with 367 cases documented since 2016. Ninety-eight percent of cases remain unresolved, and only 12.5 percent have resulted in convictions, according to data presented at the forum “Justice for Women Journalists and Defenders,” held at the Chamber of Deputies on October 23.
At the institutional level, decisions and trends have raised concern, such as the cancellation on October 29 of the program Primer Plano on Canal Once, interpreted by some analysts as a sign of shrinking space for critical debate in public media.
A report published on October 27 by Article 19 on the distribution of official advertising pointed to the continued concentration and discretion in its allocation at both the federal and state levels. During the previous presidential term, 46 percent of the federal budget for official advertising was concentrated in six media outlets, while 33 percent of total spending went to just four media companies. The study also indicated that approximately 70 percent of public spending on government communication was transferred to state governments, resulting in less transparent and more discretionary allocation schemes.
On October 31, several opinion columns documented concerns about indirect financing of media outlets linked to editorial projects aligned with the government, through contracts with printing companies.
In contrast, federal authorities have maintained that there is open freedom of expression in the country and have rejected the existence of censorship. On October 3, during a report presented in Mexico City’s Zócalo, President Claudia Sheinbaum stated that Mexico is experiencing “the greatest freedom of expression in its history” and asserted that her administration does not engage in censorship or use the state to repress the press.
