"Nearly 200 investigative journalists converged from all corners of the US-Mexico border at the salmon-colored Hotel Lucerna in Ciudad Juárez to discuss their targets: corrupt politicians, contaminators, criminals, rogues and wrong-doers of all stripes. The gathering came in late 1997-a high point ... in the halcyon days of border journalism. After seven decades, the ruling PRI party had loosened its iron grip on the Mexican media, and muckraking border reporters had won backing from powerful media moguls in both the United States and Mexico. Some of us quaffing Coronas around tables covered with white linen in the reception room that night believed we might finally be about to break some of the biggest untold stories of binational crime and corruption without facing much-if any-threat of retaliation." (Abstract) more

"At the beginning of 2008, the war between two powerful Mexican drug cartels generated an incredible wave of violence in some cities along the US-Mexican border. In Ciudad Juárez, located in the northern state of Chihuahua and to the west of the Texas-Mexico border, the feud over control of drug-tr ... afficking routes between the Cartel de Sinaloa and the Cartel de Juárez has claimed the lives of more than 10,000 people since the war began. Figures from the Chihuahua’s State Attorney Office offer a clear picture of the escalation of violence: in 2007, 307 people were killed in cases related to drug traffi cking; in 2008, the number rose to 1,607; in 2009, it was 2,601; and by 2010, the most violent year in the period, assassinations escalated to 3,156. At the height of the drug war, killings became so randomized that anyone could fall victim, including journalists, as the next chapter details. An entire society was affected by an increase in kidnappings, extortion, robberies, and a vast array of crimes, with youth often becoming favorite targets. The massacre of 15 teenagers and football players during a birthday party the night of January 31, 2010, was an indicator of the level of deterioration of the city. In July, a car bomb exploded in the middle of a busy avenue in downtown Juárez. It was the first time that drug cartels used a car bomb to attack civilians and police. The explosion of the vehicle, packed with 22 pounds of a powerful water gel explosive, left three people dead and a dozen civilians wounded. The violence was reaching an unprecedented level, particularly on the weekends. Reports of slaughtered scores were the top stories in local newspapers every Monday morning. During one weekend in February 2010, 53 people were massacred in different incidents. The violence had yet to reach its peak." (Abstract) more