Informally Governing Information

How Criminal Rivalry Leads to Violence against the Press in Mexico

Bibliographic Data

ID6283783
AuthorsBradley E Holland (0000-0002-8154-4573, The Ohio State University), Bradley Holland (0000-0003-2698-8152, The Ohio State University), Victor Rios (0000-0001-6361-4630, Harvard University), Viridiana Rios
Year2017
Volume61
Issue5
Pages1095-1119
Publication date2017-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Conflict Resolution (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-0027 • E-ISSN: 1552-8766
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0022002715600756
OpenAlexW1761345470
LanguageEN
Citations received28
References cited16

A well-functioning press is crucial for sustaining a healthy democracy. While attacks on journalists occur regularly in many developing countries, previous work has largely ignored where and why journalists are attacked. Focusing on violence by criminal organizations (COs) in Mexico, we offer the first systematic, micro-level analysis of the conditions under which journalists are more likely to be violently targeted. Contrary to popular belief, our evidence reveals that the presence of large, profitable COs does not necessarily lead to fatal attacks against the press. Rather, the likelihood of journalists being killed only increases when rival criminal groups inhabit territories. Rivalry inhibits COs’ ability to control information leaks to the press, instead creating incentives for such leaks to be used as weapons to intensify official enforcement operations against rivals. Without the capacity to informally govern press content, rival criminals affected by such press coverage are more likely to target journalists

Criminology · Democracy · Economics · Enforcement · Freedom of the press · Incentive · Law and economics · Law enforcement · Market economy · Organised crime · Political economy · Political science · Rivalry · Sociology · Corruption and Economic Development · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Law · Media Influence and Politics