'Mexico's Journalists Under Siege' Conference at Columbia University

By: E&P Staff A conference called "Scared Silent: Mexico's Journalists Under Siege" is being hosted Oct. 16-17 by the Knight Foundation and the Maria Moors Cabot Prizes at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.

Panelists and guests include journalists, government officials, and academics from Mexico, Colombia, and the United States.

A press release states: "Nowhere in the Americas is it more dangerous to practice journalism than in Mexico. Mexican journalists -- indeed that nation's entire civil society -- are under assault from organized drug gangs who have been gaining control of portions of Mexico, especially along its border with the United States.

"These thugs have killed and bribed their way into control of local police and government -- and have silenced the press in the process. Twenty-one journalists have been killed in Mexico since 2000, seven of them in direct reprisal for their work, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. Since 2005, seven others have gone missing."

Because of the sensitive theme of the conference, only pre-registered guests will be admitted by Columbia security personnel.