Silencing the Messenger: Global Threats to Press Freedom

Freedom of the press is under attack around the globe, but for journalists in Latin America in particular, reporting has become a matter of life and death. Populist leaders in the region have consolidated power and clamped down on press freedom, making the area the deadliest in the world for reporters. With anti-journalist sentiment on the rise, can a free and fair press prevail in an increasingly polarized world?

Play Button Pause Button
0:00 0:00
x
Host
  • Gabrielle Sierra
    Director, Podcasting
Credits

Asher Ross - Supervising Producer

Markus Zakaria - Audio Producer and Sound Designer

Molly McAnany - Associate Podcast Producer

Episode Guests
  • Carin Zissis
  • Jan-Albert Hootsen
    Mexico Representative for the Committee to Protect Journalists
  • Neil Brandvold
    Documentary Filmmaker and Photojournalist

Show Notes

Last year was deadly for journalists around the world. Even as the Russian invasion of Ukraine sparked the largest land war in Europe since World War II, it was Latin America, where there are currently no wars, that was the deadliest region for journalists. 

 

This violence against the world’s reporters comes amid growing anti-journalist sentiment and a consolidation of power by populist leaders. Killings of journalists increased 50 percent last year; more journalists’ deaths were recorded in 2022 than at any point in the past five years. About half of those killings took place in Latin America, where leaders such as Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele have cracked down on press freedom. Meanwhile, the rise of spyware has made it easier for governments to track journalists and their sources. In this episode, journalists in the region explain how their jobs have gotten harder—and why healthy democracies need press freedom.

 

 

 

 

From CFR

 

Diana Roy, “Why Has Gang Violence Spiked in El Salvador?” 

 

Kali Robinson, “How Israel’s Pegasus Spyware Stoked the Surveillance Debate

 

Shannon K. O’Neil, “Mexico’s Democracy Is Crumbling Under AMLO

 

 

From Our Guests

 

Carin Zissis, “LatAm in Focus: The Strange Case of El Salvador’s Plummeting Homicide Rate,” AS/COA Online

 

Jan-Albert Hootsen, “For Mexican Journalists, President López Obrador’s Pledge to Curb Spyware Rings Hollow,” Committee to Protect Journalists


 

Read More

 

Jennifer Dunham, “Deadly Year for Journalists as Killings Rose Sharply in 2022,” Committee to Protect Journalists

 

Sam Cutler and David Pegg, “What Is Pegasus Spyware and How Does it Hack Phones?The Guardian

 

Sarah Kinosian, “Trolls, Propaganda and Fear Stoke Bukele’s Media Machine in El Salvador,” Reuters
 

 

Watch and Listen

 

Mexico’s Democratic Backsliding, With Shannon K. O’Neil,” The President's Inbox

 

Neil Brandvold, Unforgivable, VICE

 

Who’s Killing Mexico’s Journalists?The Take, Al Jazeera

Inequality

Female representation in politics leads to numerous benefits, but the vast majority of the world’s most powerful politicians are men. Using the Council on Foreign Relations’ Women’s Power Index tool to track women’s leadership across the globe, this episode examines the problems that arise from a shortage of female leaders.

Taiwan

A small island one hundred miles off the coast of China could be the flashpoint that determines the future of great-power competition. Experts increasingly warn that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be globally catastrophic, regardless of its success or if the United States intervenes. How concerned should Americans be?

Robots and Artificial Intelligence

The rapid emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) has brought lawmakers and industry leaders to the same conclusion: regulation is necessary to ensure the technology changes the world for the better. The similarities could end there, as governments and industry clash on what those laws should do, and different governments take increasingly divergent approaches. What are the stakes of the debate over AI regulation?

Top Stories on CFR

United States

Temporary protected status has long been used as a humanitarian solution for migrants who are unable to return home safely, but efforts to give them a path to citizenship have reignited the debate around the U.S. immigration policy.  

Women and Women's Rights

The world’s nations are lagging woefully behind in meeting targets for achieving gender equality by 2030, but a new round of initiatives has stirred hope of progress.

United States

Amid renewed calls for changes in the world order, U.S. President Joe Biden sought to stress his support for greater inclusion of developing nations in addressing economic, social, and climate concerns.