The assassination of police reporter Bladimir Antuna in Durango has once again exposed the helplessness of media workers in Mexico. The situation makes the country one of the world's most riskiest in which to practice journalism.

Several organizations have demanded that the government take serious measures to confront the wave of violence against journalists, El Universal reports. Among them are the Inter American Press Association, the International Press Institute, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters Without Borders, and the Foundation for Freedom of Expression (Fundalex).

According to the IPI, seven reporters have been killed this year in Mexico, the same number as in Pakistan and more than in war-torn Somalia. Reporters Without Borders insisted that Antuna had reported death threats several times to authorities and that his killing was, therefore, preventable.

The impunity of the killings worsens the helplnessness of the journalists, who are "easy target(s) for criminals," a separate story in El Universal explains. The media workers must confront an "authority that does not accept criticism, nor journalistic work," and they are caught in the crossfire in the government's campaign against drug trafficking, EFE says, quoting Darío Ramírez, national director for the Article 19 NGO. “The silence and inaction by the state and federal governments are what is most worrying," he says.

Even though Antuna is the third journalist killed in Durango this year, the state's governor insists that reporters are safe to conduct their work. However, other local reporters have called the crime "a warning to everyone," even though authorities "dismiss and minimize" it. This warning signals that no type of investigative reporting can be conducted, La Jornada adds.