MEXICO CITY An award-winning Mexican journalist was gunned down on Monday in the northwestern state of Sinaloa, the fifth reporter killed in the past three months as the country struggles to contain resurgent bloodshed among warring drug cartels.
Journalist Javier Valdez was shot and killed when an unknown number of assailants opened fire on his car, according to the website of online media outlet RioDoce, which he helped found and where he continued to work.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urged President Enrique Pena Nieto earlier this month to prioritise protection for the media in the last year of his government, citing the killing of at least 21 journalists in the past decade with “complete impunity.”
The CPJ awarded Valdez its International Press Freedom Award in 2011 for his prolific coverage of drug trafficking and organised crime.
(Reporting by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Sandra Maler)