Maria Elizabeth Macias Castro
We all use social media to find and share information.Sometimes journalists use social media as a tool to tell stories they can’t tell using traditional media channels. Sadly we are not safe behind the screens. As journalists we all should pay more attention to cyber security. I want to tell you a disturbing story about a Mexican journalist Maria Elizabeth Macias Castro ( her real name was Marisol Macías Castañeda). According to committee to protect journalists (CPJ), it’s the first time a journalist has been killed directly because of something published to a social media site.
Maria was the editor in chief of the newspaper Primera Hora. According to the Washington Post Mexico’s drug cartels have long waged war against the media, intimidating local news outlets with kidnappings and killings so they do not report on the violence taking place. Crime groups still terrorize local press into silence, which leads Mexican citizens to report on criminal activities on websites and social media, usually anonymously.
She also posted on Twitter about drug trafficking and drug gangs locations. She had to use social media, because other media was too scared to report about cartels. Social media website was called Nuevo Laredo en vivo (or Nuevo Laredo live) and there not only journalists, but also citizens could leave messages pointing the security forces to the locations where gangs congregate and sell drugs. She didn’t use her real name on social media, she used a pseudonym “The girl from Laredo” (LaNenaDLaredo). According to BBC Maria’s body was found in a busy area of Nuevo Laredo, in northern Tamaulipas state in Mexico. It has boarder with Texas (USA),so it’s a hot spot for drug trafficking.
She was killed on September 24th in 2011. According to CNN, she was found decapitated with a note next to her body. Two weeks before Maria’s death, two bodies were found of a man and a woman both in their 20s. They were found hung from the bridge and there also was a message with threats mentioning websites that report on drug cartels activity. According to CPJ, next to Maria’s head there were headphones, a keyboard and a message. It’s unclear how killers discovered her identity. The hand-written message said:
“I'm The Laredo Girl, and I'm here because of my reports, and yours. ... For those who don't want to believe, this happened to me because of my actions, for believing in the army and the navy. Thank you for your attention, respectfully, Laredo Girl.” It was signed with the Z’s which is the sign of Los Zetas cartel. Maria was 39 when she died.
Until this day, journalists are still being killed, although the Mexican government shows some efforts to investigate the deaths of journalists and other crimes committed by gangs, there’s still not many changes. According to Reporters Without Borders, Mexico's 2018 World Press Freedom Index ranking is147th (out of 180 countries). Journalist's situation there is the worst in South America, second only to Cuba, which is ranking 173.