Not the Narcos: How Mexico’s Press Censorship Really Works

Everyone thinks they know who censors Mexico’s press. They don’t.

There is a persistent myth about Mexico’s press: that it is silenced by organized crime, paralyzed by fear or bought off by drug money. The story is so familiar it feels inevitable: reporters gagged by narcos, editors bribed into submission.

But this is a caricature. It oversimplifies a much more complex and, in many ways, more disturbing reality.

The greatest source of censorship in Mexico isn’t the underworld. It’s not men with rifles and ski masks.

The truth is far more insidious —and far less cinematic.