Newspapers of Americas say threats against journalists could lead to self-censorship

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- A major association of journalists from across the Americas warned Oct. 9 of the danger that news media would begin to censor themselves under threat from drug-smugglers in Mexico, guerrillas in Colombia and authorities in Venezuela and the United States.

"Media self-censorship affects the people's right to information," said Gonzalo Marroquin, president of the freedom of the press commission of the Inter American Press Association, which is holding its general assembly in Indianapolis.

Juan Francisco Ealy Ortiz, publisher of the Mexican newspaper El Universal, said Mexican journalism is under threat from violence caused by drug smugglers.

Three journalists have been killed and one kidnapped over the past six months, and five more were killed in the previous year, he said. At least five cases appeared linked to drug smugglers, he said.

In a special report on Mexico, he said that in the face of the threats, some news media "avoid publishing information about drug smuggling, especially along the U.S. border."

In August, publishers of 40 newspapers in northern Mexico signed a declaration asking for greater efforts in solving crimes against journalists, saying: "Impunity encourages such acts to be repeated." They also pledged to take measures to protect their reporters and editors while covering risky subjects.

Another special panel addressed judicial threats against journalists in the United States, where news media are worried about journalists facing arrest for refusing to identify anonymous sources.

"The United States has ceased to be a paradise in terms of freedom of the press," Marroquin told The Associated Press.

Milton Coleman, deputy managing editor of The Washington Post, said his newspaper's Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation of the Watergate scandal in the 1970s would not have been possible if Mark Felt -- known as "Deep Throat"-- had feared a judge could force journalist Bob Woodward to reveal his name.

"That is a classical chilling effect," he told AP. "We don't want to make sources more reluctant to speak to us because of their fear of losing confidentiality."

Colombian publishers said no journalists were killed in the line of duty in the past six months. But they denounced other forms of intimidation, including more than 100 lawsuits filed against news media by retired military officers, ministers and public servants.

They said the news media's cautiousness may be part of the reason that violence has dropped.

"The climate of violence may be diminishing as the result of growing media self-censorship, particularly outside the capital," their report said.

Publishers from Guatemala and Honduras criticized laws forbidding them to publish opinion polls in the three months before a presidential election.

Venezuelan and Cuban journalists said their governments are intimidating news media that don't follow the official line.