Risks of Reporting

The CNN video “Latest Battlefield in Mexico’s Drug War: Social Media” is about drug cartels and individuals associated with drug trafficking that are allegedly murdering those who speak out against them through social media sites (in this specific case, public and supposedly anonymous blogs and websites). After watching this my first impression was that we as American citizens are lucky that we have laws such as the 1^st and 14^th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution that protect individuals who wish to speak their mind about any issue or voice their opinions. And even though murders and drug-related violence does happen in our country, it is not as prominent or as large of an issue as it is for those who live in countries like Mexico.

I believe that as communications majors and people writing blogs, we all have to be held accountable for what we say and post on the Internet, and also understand that anything on the web is public and available to everyone. However, our freedom of speech really only goes so far once we start making defamatory statements which may possibly be false, or lashing out against individuals or companies with actual malice. This particular video is obviously an extreme case in which someone or some group sought out revenge over something that was posted on the web. But when working in the communication field whether it be as a reporter, blogger, journalist or other media-related career, you need to be aware of the risk when writing about others especially in such a controversial context.