Censorship, Illustrated

The local paper of record in Torreón, El Siglo, has taken to ignoring the most high-profile crimes. No one has explained the self-censorship (then again, who would if the Siglo is quiet?), but the paper has become noticeably less interested in any crime that sounds like it's related to drugs. They'll run articles about government actions --say, the arrival of a new military unit to the city-- but the crimes themselves have gone basically uncovered for several months. This has led to the odd scenario in which the only publications that discuss murders are two splashy tabloids that make the New York Post look like the Wall Street Journal. The tabloids, though they employ innovative journalistic techniques like a girl of the day, are neither perceived as reliable nor widely read. News travels more by rumor and third- or fourth-hand accounts, and none of us living here really know what is going on most of the time.

And now, if you'll direct your eyes to the visual aides Gancho has prepared, you'll see what I mean. Each of the tabloids photographed (both from this weekend) mentions a sensational killing, but in neither case does the crime appear anywhere in El Siglo, which dedicates its front page instead to rising interest rates and government disputes with informal merchants.