Valor por Tamaulipas

Citizen journalism is a highly interesting and relevant topic in our current climate of a globalized economy of information. First, what exactly is citizen journalism? It is exactly what the name implies: ordinary citizens acting as reporters of local news to which they have firsthand access. Primary sources of newsworthy events are important, but in many cases, there are issues of bias, risk of libel, and copyrights. Anyone can be a citizen reporter but will obviously have an angle in what they report or could put out damaging information to an individual in mainstream media. 

One of the best examples that came to my mind of citizen journalism is the Facebook page “Valor por Tamaulipas” in which an anonymous administrator posted security-related information about drug-related violence in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The page was founded on the first of January in 2012 and underwent a series of threats from both local cartels and government officials as it was bringing their wrongdoings to light. For context, there are two transnational cartels based in Tamaulipas: Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel. Both of which have been at war since 2010 and are some of the biggest players in smuggling across the Texan border. Mexico has been an extremely dangerous place for journalists who report on drug-related events and approximately 100 journalists have been kidnapped or murdered since 2000.

One of the cartels, supposedly the Los Zetas and affiliated government officials, posted fliers around the state offering 600,000 pesos for information on the identity of the page’s admin or family members. After a string of other threats and released videos of murders and people asking for the admin to reveal their identity being tortured, the admin released a statement placing blame of these killings on the government officials whom were corrupt or afraid to act out.

The admin released one final statement in December of 2014 announcing their retirement from the page and that it along with sister sites would be under new management. The reasons behind the admin’s retirement are unknown and stated simply as “personal.”

What are the implications of a Facebook page administrated by an unknown ordinary citizen exerting a level of control over an entire criminal empire in their state? There is a level of power that comes with citizen journalism and anonymity. Anyone can shed light on news they find worthy of dissemination, but this can lead them down a very dangerous road if they are not careful. People died because of the content posted on Valor por Tamaulipas. Citizen journalism can ultimately act as the leveling field for the rich, poor, old, and young to be cut down to the same scrutiny of the public and the law. I personally believe that my generation will be the most proactive with citizen journalism than any other generation in history because of our access to a camera and skill with social media. It has become easier for people to discern between fact and fiction in politics, and it will be up to us to bring these discrepancies to light and inform the public about how local cities and towns are affected by crime, policies, and social issues.

Sources:

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/rise-citizen-journalism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valor_por_Tamaulipas#cite_note-18