TOUGHER ACTION SOUGHT

The Society of Professional Journalists has issued a letter to several U.S. and Mexican officials demanding stronger measures to ensure the safety of journalists in Mexico.

Since 2000, 59 have been killed in that country. The drug wars there claimed 2,600 lives in 2009, by official estimates.

SPJ president Kevin Smith and its international committee chairwoman Ronnie Lovler wrote to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Mexico’s ambassador to the United States Arturo Casamitjana, and other officials, noting that as the violence increases, so does fear-motivated self-censorship.

Editors and reporters from newspapers in Nuevo Laredo and Cuidad Juárez informed SPJ that they no longer publish articles “beyond what’s on the police reports.”

The complete letter and an accompanying news release can be found on SPJ’s website: www.spj.org.

BLOGGING PRINCIPLES

The Radio Television Digital News Association has released guidelines for journalists who use social media and blogging sites. Incorporated are its “core principles of truth, fairness, accountability and transparency.”

They include: don’t use avatar or user names to mask identity in newsroom or personal websites, and don’t use social media to promote business or personal interests without disclosing that relationship to the public.

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Editor’s note: This column was previously published on Hispanic Link News Service.