Rewriting Violence: Risk Effects and the Targeting of Journalists in Mexico's Criminal Conflict

Over the last 12 years, Mexico has become a dangerous place to be a journalist. Increasingly, journalists are targeted and killed for reporting on the causes and consequences of violence tied to organized crime. In this paper, we seek to understand how this risk-environment influences the content and strategies of reporting at one of Mexico's most well known national newspapers, Reforma. Our study utilizes two novel sources of data. The first capture attacks on journalists during the drug war period, while the second uses natural language processing techniques to measure changes in reporting on victimization and violence at Reforma. In this paper, we present preliminary evidence demonstrating the link between violence against journalists and changes in news content over time.