MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The head of an online news outlet in Mexico was shot dead soon after hosting a live social media broadcast late on Tuesday, authorities and the victim’s employer said on Wednesday.
Mexico has been ranked as one of the deadliest countries for journalists by press freedom groups due to violence by organized crime and local politicians.
Mauricio Cruz was killed in the city of Uruapan, in the violence-plagued western state of Michoacan, according to the state prosecutor’s office. Another person, who the prosecutor did not identify, was wounded in the shooting.
Uruapan is known for brazen crimes such as beheadings stemming from fighting between drugs cartels or face-offs with law enforcement. It was not immediately clear where in the city the killing took place.
Cruz’s news outlet, MinutoXMinuto Michoacan, posted a tribute to the journalist on its Facebook page featuring his last live video recorded minutes before his death.
The killing of Cruz, marks the first of a journalist under President Claudia Sheinbaum, who took office at the beginning of this month.
She has vowed to roll out a sweeping security policy to tamp out crime, but the nation has instead been rocked by a wave of violence.
(Reporting by Raul Cortes; Writing by Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Alison Williams)
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