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Violence against journalists in Mexico intensified significantly in 2025, with a leading press freedom organization reporting a near doubling in killings compared to the previous year, alongside persistent patterns of disappearance, physical attacks, and judicial harassment targeting media workers.
According to a report by Article 19, cited by Reuters and Internazionale, at least eight journalists were either killed or disappeared in Mexico in 2025. This figure includes seven murders and one disappearance, compared with four journalist killings recorded in 2024, marking a sharp increase in lethal violence against the press.
The report identifies Mexico as continuing to have some of the highest levels of violence against journalists in Latin America, alongside widespread censorship pressures and growing use of legal mechanisms to intimidate reporters. It notes that attacks were concentrated in multiple high-risk regions, including states with strong criminal organization activity such as Guanajuato, Guerrero, Sonora, Durango, and the State of Mexico.
Beyond killings, the findings highlight a broader escalation in hostility toward the press. In 2025, Mexico recorded 53 physical attacks against journalists and a record 153 cases of judicial harassment, described as the fastest-growing form of pressure against media workers in the country.
Article 19 attributes a significant portion of these abuses to public officials, noting that in documented cases where perpetrators were identified, roughly one in three were linked to state authorities. The report frames this as evidence of institutional tolerance or participation in intimidation against journalists, particularly those covering corruption, crime, or local governance.
The organization also underscores that Mexico remains one of the most dangerous countries for journalists outside active war zones, a classification echoed by international press freedom monitors. The Committee to Protect Journalists has similarly ranked Mexico among the deadliest countries for media workers globally in recent years, particularly for those reporting on organized crime and local politics.
Advocacy groups warn that impunity remains a central driver of continued violence, as many cases of murdered or disappeared journalists remain unresolved. This lack of accountability, they argue, reinforces a cycle in which perpetrators face little risk of prosecution.
The report calls attention to the normalization of violence against journalists in Mexico and urges stronger protections, improved investigations, and structural reforms to address both criminal and state-linked threats to press freedom.
Overall, the findings depict a deteriorating environment for journalism in Mexico in 2025, marked by escalating lethal violence and expanding non-lethal but systematic forms of intimidation targeting the press.
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