A prominent blog from Spain about citizen journalism has touted the efforts of Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project as a “successful formula” for demonstrating how the collaboration between professional and citizen journalists can bring down violent drug cartels. Journalist and director of Spain’s Periodismo Ciudadano website Paula Gonzalo writes that Breitbart Texas is acting as a bridge across the border so Mexican citizen journalists can tell these vivid cartel stories.
Ms. Gonzalo explained in her post how Breitbart Texas Managing Editor Brandon Darby and reporter Ildefonso Ortiz work tirelessly with Mexican citizen journalists in the drug war-ravaged border cities of Matamoros and Reynosa to help them report stories and disclose information rarely found anywhere in the Mexican press.
These citizen journalists in Mexico repeatedly risk their lives to bring Breitbart Texas this information. Gonzalo explained, “These are risks that these journalists understand very well, and they live under constant threats to report these stories via social media and alert their communities about the danger.”
Gonzalo also explained that both professional and citizen journalists are working under the same threats and dangerous conditions to report drug war and cartel stories, regardless of their employers. She denounced the attempts by cartels to silence the press and their attempts to manipulate the messages that do make their way into news stories.
Breitbart Texas Managing Director Brandon Darby said he was deeply touched by the blog post from Spain. “Sometimes it feels overwhelming to challenge Mexican cartels for a number of reasons. The fact that international grassroots citizen journalists in Spain are accepting our strategy and writing this is a massive encouragement, not only to us in the U.S., but to the citizen journalists in Mexico who are risking their lives to work with us.”
Darby added, “There are courageous people in Mexico who are trying to better their own country by exposing ruthless cartels and we will do everything possible to make sure their efforts are known to all. We will not stop until Mexican citizens can speak freely without the fear of being murdered for sharing their experiences and perceptions.”
To read the complete blog post as translated by Google, please CLICK HERE.
Sylvia Longmire is a border security expert and Contributing Editor for Breitbart Texas. You can read more about cross-border issues in her latest book, Border Insecurity: Why Big Money, Fences, and Drones Aren’t Making Us Safer.
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