Mexico: Two Journalists Shot in Two Days as Protection Measures Remain Ineffective

Last updated: 22 September 2026

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) issued an urgent alert on March 20, 2026 following the killing of journalist Juan David Gámez and the critical wounding of journalist Óscar Merino Ruiz in Mexico within the span of two days. RSF is calling on President Claudia Sheinbaum to honour her commitments to strengthen the protection of journalists and demanding that Mexican authorities treat both attacks as potentially connected to the victims' professional activities.

The Two Attacks

On March 18, 2026, Juan David Gámez, owner of the local news site Táctica SS, was shot dead in the Valle de Lincoln neighbourhood of García, in the northern state of Nuevo León. He was attacked while riding his motorcycle near his home. Gámez regularly published reporting on security issues, corruption, and drug trafficking in Nuevo León, a state heavily affected by cartel violence. Two days earlier, on March 16, Óscar Merino Ruiz, director of the local online outlet OM Noticias, was shot and left in critical condition. His outlet covered local politics and crime in another cartel-affected region.

Both attacks bear the hallmarks of targeted killings designed to silence local journalism in communities where independent reporting on crime and corruption is most urgently needed — and most dangerous. Local journalists in Mexico face a particular risk profile: they lack institutional protection of large national news organisations, they are known in their communities and therefore easily identified, and they report on subjects — organised crime, local officials, cartel activity — that directly threaten powerful and violent interests.

Mexico's Abysmal Protection Record

Mexico has been one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists for over a decade. Despite the existence of a federal Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, RSF and other organisations have consistently documented that the mechanism is chronically underfunded, slow to respond, and often ineffective in preventing violence. President Sheinbaum made commitments during her campaign to strengthen journalist protection, but the deaths demonstrate that the situation on the ground has not improved.

How many reporters will be murdered in Mexico before the country's protection mechanism is genuinely strengthened? President Sheinbaum must honour her commitments and Mexican authorities must ensure that investigations into these crimes are swift, thorough, impartial, and treat the journalists' work as a potential motive.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), March 20, 2026

Source: Reporters Without Borders (RSF)