Blog del Narco
Encyclopedia
Blog del Narco is a blog
that documents events and people of the Mexican Drug War
. MSNBC
said that Blog del Narco is "Mexico's go-to Web site on information on the country's drug war."
The author spends four hours per day working on the website. To deal with the increased workload, he asked a friend to help him. In Mexico many traditional journalistic outlets received harassment due to stories they publish, so anonymous blogs like Blog del Narco have taken the role of reporting on events related to the drug war. The author, an anonymous computer security student in his 20s from northern Mexico, uses computer security techniques to obscure his identity. His anonymity had been maintained. When he conducted an interview with the Associated Press
, he used a disguised telephone number. Nate Freeman of The Observer
said "his facelessness allowed him get away with stories that would endanger known journalists[...]"
A video posted on Blog del Narco outlined a prison warden's system of letting prisoners free at night so they could commit murders for drug cartels. As a result of the video, the prison warden was arrested.
said "Even if you don’t read Spanish
(like me), the images on Blog Del Narco tell the gruesome story. Old, wealthy men held hostage and humiliated. Paramilitary cops in ski masks taking dudes into custody. People walking the streets in body armor, automatic weapons out. Then there’s all the dead bodies and shot-up cars." Jo Tuckman of Dawn
said that the website's contents are "a catalogue of horror absent even from the national press, which still covers the violence from the relative safety of its headquarters in the capital
." Duncan Robinson of the New Statesman
said "To say that the blog's coverage is raw is an understatement. It is visceral and undigested. This is news unprocessed, unadulterated and uncensored. Where a news editor would cut away, Blog del Narco's footage lingers. Decapitations are not described, they are pictured. It's unapologetically violent. The blog's raison d'être
is simple: to reflect what is happening." The Daily Mail stated "some of the horror it displays makes the 2002 film City of God, charting the drug war on the streets of Brazil's Rio de Janeiro
, look like a Disney film."
said "Blog del Narco has become an internet sensation." By August 2010 hundreds of posts occurred each day. As of August 2010 the blog had over 7,300 followers on Facebook
and Twitter
. Among the followers were Mexican media organizations, the Secretariat of National Defense, CNN
, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) of the United States. As of September 2010 the blog had three million unique monthly views. By 2011 it became one of the most visited websites in Mexico. Members of police and drug cartel groups actively read the blog.
The author of the blog said that he is doing a service by publishing sensitive details about the Mexican Drug War that journalist organizations in Mexico are hesitant to publish, for fear of retaliation. The blogger said "For the scanty details that they (mass media) put on television, they get grenades thrown at them and their reporters kidnapped. We publish everything. Imagine what they could do to us." Carlos Lauria of the Committee to Protect Journalists
criticized the website, saying that it was "produced by someone who is not doing it from a journalistic perspective. He is doing it without ethical considerations." Many critics said that the blog provides free public relations
for the cartel groups.
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
that documents events and people of the Mexican Drug War
Mexican Drug War
The Mexican Drug War is an ongoing armed conflict taking place among rival drug cartels who fight each other for regional control, and Mexican government forces who seek to combat drug trafficking. However, the government's principal goal has been to put down the drug-related violence that was...
. MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
said that Blog del Narco is "Mexico's go-to Web site on information on the country's drug war."
The author spends four hours per day working on the website. To deal with the increased workload, he asked a friend to help him. In Mexico many traditional journalistic outlets received harassment due to stories they publish, so anonymous blogs like Blog del Narco have taken the role of reporting on events related to the drug war. The author, an anonymous computer security student in his 20s from northern Mexico, uses computer security techniques to obscure his identity. His anonymity had been maintained. When he conducted an interview with the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, he used a disguised telephone number. Nate Freeman of The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
said "his facelessness allowed him get away with stories that would endanger known journalists[...]"
History
The author began the website in March 2010 as a hobby. The author said that he created the website because the Government of Mexico is not reporting on the event and is trying to pretend that "nothing is happening." The Huffington Post stated that in a period of less than six months, Blog del Narco "has become Mexico's go-to Internet site" for drug cartel events.A video posted on Blog del Narco outlined a prison warden's system of letting prisoners free at night so they could commit murders for drug cartels. As a result of the video, the prison warden was arrested.
Content
According to the author, the blog posts all cartel-related media, regardless of the cartel affiliation or content. Some of the videos posted on the website show incidents of murder and torture. Spencer Ackerman of WiredWired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
said "Even if you don’t read Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
(like me), the images on Blog Del Narco tell the gruesome story. Old, wealthy men held hostage and humiliated. Paramilitary cops in ski masks taking dudes into custody. People walking the streets in body armor, automatic weapons out. Then there’s all the dead bodies and shot-up cars." Jo Tuckman of Dawn
Dawn (newspaper)
Dawn is Pakistan's oldest and most widely read English-language newspaper. One of the country's two largest English-language dailies, it is the flagship of the Dawn Group of Newspapers, published by Pakistan Herald Publications, which also owns the Herald, a magazine, the evening paper The Star and...
said that the website's contents are "a catalogue of horror absent even from the national press, which still covers the violence from the relative safety of its headquarters in the capital
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
." Duncan Robinson of the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
said "To say that the blog's coverage is raw is an understatement. It is visceral and undigested. This is news unprocessed, unadulterated and uncensored. Where a news editor would cut away, Blog del Narco's footage lingers. Decapitations are not described, they are pictured. It's unapologetically violent. The blog's raison d'être
Raison d'être
Raison d'être is a French phrase meaning "reason for existence." It may also refer to:* Raison d'être , a Swedish dark-ambient-industrial-drone music project* Raison D'être , an album by Australian jazz fusion guitarist Frank Gambale...
is simple: to reflect what is happening." The Daily Mail stated "some of the horror it displays makes the 2002 film City of God, charting the drug war on the streets of Brazil's Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, look like a Disney film."
Reception
The Daily MailDaily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
said "Blog del Narco has become an internet sensation." By August 2010 hundreds of posts occurred each day. As of August 2010 the blog had over 7,300 followers on Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
and Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
. Among the followers were Mexican media organizations, the Secretariat of National Defense, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI) of the United States. As of September 2010 the blog had three million unique monthly views. By 2011 it became one of the most visited websites in Mexico. Members of police and drug cartel groups actively read the blog.
The author of the blog said that he is doing a service by publishing sensitive details about the Mexican Drug War that journalist organizations in Mexico are hesitant to publish, for fear of retaliation. The blogger said "For the scanty details that they (mass media) put on television, they get grenades thrown at them and their reporters kidnapped. We publish everything. Imagine what they could do to us." Carlos Lauria of the Committee to Protect Journalists
Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent nonprofit organisation based in New York City that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.-History:A group of U.S...
criticized the website, saying that it was "produced by someone who is not doing it from a journalistic perspective. He is doing it without ethical considerations." Many critics said that the blog provides free public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
for the cartel groups.
External links
- Blog del Narco
- "Leaking secrets, leaking blood." Boing BoingBoing BoingBoing Boing is a publishing entity, first established as a magazine, later becoming a group blog.-History:...
interview with the author of Blog del Narco - Burnett, Thane. "Mexico's drug war goes online." Toronto SunToronto SunThe Toronto Sun is an English-language daily tabloid newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is known for its daily Sunshine Girl feature and for what it sees as a populist conservative editorial stance.-History:...
. September 2, 2010. - "Blogger tells the real story of the war on drugs." France 24France 24France 24 is an international news and current affairs television channel. The service is aimed at the overseas market, similar to BBC World News, DW-TV, NHK World and RT, and broadcast through satellite and cable operators throughout the world. During 2010 the channel started broadcasting through...
. 12 March 2010. - "La cuadratura del círculo Operativos en el Noroeste." Tribuna Campeche. Thursday February 3, 2011.