REPORTERO is a gripping, urgent, and beautiful new documentary that explores the crucial issues of violence on the border, corruption and power in Mexico, and the struggle for 'free-speech' to discuss these troubling realities.

REPORTERO follows a veteran reporter and his colleagues at ZETA, a Tijuana-based newpaper, as they stubbornly ply their trade in what has become one of the deadliest places in the world to be a journalist. In Mexico, more than 40 journalists have been murdered or have gone missing since December 2006, when President Calderón came to power and launched a government offensive against the country's drug cartels and organized crime groups.

Since ZETA’s founding in 1980, two of the paper’s editors have been murdered and the founder viciously attacked.
 
“Impunity reigns in Mexico, especially here along the northern border,” explains Adela Navarro, Sergio’s boss and Zeta’s co-director. “With guns and money, drug traffickers have control over police, judges, prosecutors, and entire towns. This makes investigative journalism extraordinarily difficult.”
 
Yet, Semanario Zeta has relentlessly chronicled the activities of organized crime figures and crooked politicians for over three decades.
  
As a veteran member of Zeta’s editorial team, Sergio contributes to the crime pieces that are the paper’s bread and butter, but at this stage of his career, he is also after what he calls the “deeper story” of the region – the human stories that tend to fall between the cracks.

REPORTERO is a risky and groundbreaking film that should be part of any collection.  It will be directly useful to classes exploring issues around journalism, Latin America and Mexico, the border, immigration, and freedom of speech.

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REPORTERO is directed and produced by Bernardo Ruiz. Co-Produced by Patricia Benabe. Edited by Carla Gutierrez. Director of Photography is Claudio Rocha. Original score by Leo Abrahams. Consulting Producer: Alex Rivera.

REPORTERO (2012) Trailer from Quiet Pictures on Vimeo.