Violence against journalists and other information carriers

According to Bartman, the article 'Veracruz: A lawless state' and a photo of the local governor taken by journalist Rubén Espinosa - which portrayed the governor as a criminal - caused bad blood. Why a thorough understanding of local political elites is important In 2015, Rubén Espinosa, a journalist, was murdered in Veracruz, Mexico. The most likely culprits were the local political elites, whom Espinosa had criticised in his articles. Espinosa was also a key informant for the research of political scientist Jos Bartman. Bartman, who was investigating repression in subnational undemocratic regimes, discovered why such regimes are highly vulnerable to negative publicity. On Friday 23 October, Bartman will obtain a doctorate from the University of Amsterdam (UvA) for this study A global trend is emerging in which journalists who write about topics such as crime or corruption are being murdered more frequently than war correspondents. This type of violence poses a threat to free speech and is closely connected to the worldwide democratic downturn we are currently experiencing.