Sinaloa governor backtracks on state censorship after media outcry

Sinaloa Governor Mario Lopez Valdez has long been dogged by accusations of corruption.

Following a fierce public backlash the governor of Sinaloa has vowed to repeal legislation passed last week that would have effectively prohibited local reporters from covering crime.

Introduced by Governor Mario Lopez Valdez, the controversial bill was passed unanimously by Sinaloa’s state congress on July 31.

But after the Mexican press furiously denounced the legislation, Lopez pledged on August 4 to abolish the bill.

Under the new law, journalists in Sinaloa, a state in northwest Mexico, would have been forbidden from reporting “information related to public safety or law enforcement,” accessing crime scenes or photographing, filming or recording audio of anyone involved in a crime.

The local media would have been limited to publishing information from official press releases issued by the Sinaloa Attorney General’s Office, but no one from that office would have been allowed to speak to journalists without the Attorney General’s express permission…

This is my first piece for Latin Correspondent, a new Latin American news site by the Hybrid News Group. Click here to read the article in full.