Hamurabi Huesca Manzano, director of the news site Pinotepa Comunica, was shot dead on October 9, 2026, in Santiago Pinotepa Nacional, Oaxaca. By early October, he was one of eight journalists killed in Mexico in 2026, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a Paris-based press-freedom group. His death points to a stark reality: Mexico’s media is shifting toward digital platforms and internet-based news, but traditional outlets remain concentrated in corporate hands, while journalists across all platforms face extraordinary violence.
Mexico’s transformation is real and dramatic. In 2025, 86.1% of Mexicans aged six and over used the internet—104.9 million people. Internet penetration reached 88.9% in cities and 75.2% in rural areas. Among smartphone users, 80.4% accessed social networks and 90.6% used messaging apps. But digital expansion masks a media system with radically unequal power, where reporting the truth remains deeply dangerous.
The Concentration Problem
A small number of owners dominate Mexico’s broadcasting and newspaper sectors, controlling distribution at every level. Television is the most concentrated segment. RSF says Televisa and TV Azteca dominate Mexican broadcasting, making Mexico one of the world’s most concentrated media markets. Grupo Televisa, based in Mexico City, operates through its pay-TV subsidiary izzi and Sky satellite service. At the end of 2025, it reported 15.5 million residential paid services and 3.8 million satellite ones. TelevisaUnivision, whose largest shareholder is Grupo Televisa, operates free-to-air channels including Las Estrellas and describes itself as the world’s top Spanish-language media company.
TV Azteca belongs to Grupo Salinas, created by Ricardo Salinas Pliego. In July 2026, a federal judge declared the company in concurso mercantil, a court-supervised debt restructuring it had requested. Its filing listed 1,970 debts worth 23.3 billion pesos—approximately US$1.27 billion. TV Azteca stopped paying its U.S. bonds five years ago, in 2021. U.S. creditors owed about US$630 million have sued in New York for four years. Who will control the network’s future—the creditors or the Mexican government—remains uncertain.
Newspaper ownership follows the same pattern. RSF says Organización Editorial Mexicana (OEM) dominates the newspaper sector, owning 32 dailies, 24 radio stations, and 45 websites. Other major players include El Universal, led by Juan Francisco Ealy Ortiz; Reforma, under Grupo Reforma; and Milenio, under Grupo Milenio. Local and regional papers have few alternatives to corporate ownership.
The Digital Shift and Its Limits
Free-to-air television viewing fell 4 percentage points between 2024 and 2025. In 2025, television reached 49.1% of the population, down 12 percentage points from 2020. Viewers watched an average of 2.1 hours a day. Radio reached 29.8% of the population. Streaming services, meanwhile, became available in 36.4% of households, and household internet access doubled from 39.1% in 2015 to 78.3% in 2025.
Online-only outlets have emerged as an alternative. Animal Político, part of Grupo Animal, presents itself as a source of verified information and independent journalism. Aristegui Noticias, published by Aristegui Noticias Network, uses the slogan “journalism in freedom, from any medium.” RSF says independent journalists increasingly publish directly on social media, outside the large media groups. That fragmentation doesn’t solve the structural problem: Mexico’s most powerful outlets remain concentrated in corporate hands, and those who challenge that power face lethal consequences.
Violence as a Tool of Control
Article 19, a free-expression group with a Mexico office, has documented 181 journalists killed since 2000 in possible connection with their work: 48 under former president Felipe Calderón, 47 under Enrique Peña Nieto, 47 under Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and 14 under President Claudia Sheinbaum, with the tally running to July 2026. RSF’s barometer counted eight journalists killed in Mexico in 2026 as of early October. In August, a gunman shot dead photographer Ricardo Zúñiga in Puebla state. The Committee to Protect Journalists reported in August 2026 that six journalists had been murdered that year, with five killings occurring in just over two months—one of the deadliest spikes the organization had documented in more than a decade.
RSF says collusion between local officials and organized crime poses a grave threat to reporters. It counts 28 journalists missing since 2000. No law guarantees a fair and transparent distribution of government advertising, leaving small outlets exposed to commercial and criminal pressure.
Regulatory Uncertainty
Mexico replaced its former broadcast regulator, the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT), with the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (CRT). A new telecoms and broadcasting law appeared on July 16, 2025. The Senate ratified the CRT’s five commissioners on October 14, 2025—one year ago—and the board first met on October 21, 2025. President Sheinbaum named Norma Solano Rodríguez to lead the CRT.
In August 2026, the CRT approved audience-rights rules, including separating news from opinion and answering viewer complaints. Solano rejected censorship claims and said repeat offenders face fines of 0.1% to 1% of annual revenue. Whether the CRT will enforce the rules independently or bow to government pressure remains unclear. RSF says President Sheinbaum has adopted a less confrontational tone toward the media, though she still criticizes coverage at times. In May 2026, TV Azteca accused her of urging Mexicans not to watch it, calling the move an attempt to censor critical media.
Mexico’s constitution guarantees press freedom, and RSF says the country has no openly restrictive press laws. Yet the country ranks 122nd of 180 nations in RSF’s 2026 World Press Freedom Index, with a score of 45.23 out of 100. Journalists face constant risks from violence, threats, and lawsuits.
Why This Matters:
Mexico’s media system shows why digital transformation alone can’t overcome structural inequality. Internet access has expanded dramatically, reaching 86.1% of the population, but a tiny corporate elite still controls news ownership. That concentration shapes which stories get told, which communities are heard, and who profits from journalism. Meanwhile, journalists investigating crime and corruption face murder at rates unseen elsewhere in the region. Independent digital outlets offer hope, but small outlets lack resources and protection. New regulatory frameworks like the CRT could democratize media power, but their independence from government influence remains untested. As Mexican advertisers redirected spending during World Cup season and international investors juggle bonds from bankrupt broadcasters, journalists on the ground continue to die for reporting stories their corporate competitors often won’t touch. Mexican journalism’s future depends not just on technology, but on whether public institutions will protect press freedom and break up concentrated media power.