Home > Insight

Violence in Oaxaca claims journalist's life
By Zoë Williams
williamz@mscd.edu

At the Republican National Convention protests of 2004, I met Independent Media Center journalist Brad Will, a lovely man who was incredibly committed to the peace and social justice movement.

This weekend, I learned that Brad died from a gunshot wound in Oaxaca, Mexico. When I shared this with friends and acquaintances, I learned that very few people knew there was such a place, even though the state has been rocked by protests for five months.

Big media has found little time to report on a statewide mobilization that began with a teacher’s strike and has turned into a movement of the largely poor and indigenous residents of Oaxaca. The demonstrations have been led by the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca, which demands a new government for the state and a new way of life for the country.

A revolution is brewing in Mexico. That is why Brad went there. He was not a part of a major film crew. He posted stories online and filmed for a documentary he was making. On Friday, pro-government paramilitaries shot him. The weekend death toll rose to seven after the Mexican government authorized federal police to accompany the already violent state police.

An Independent Media Center response to Brad’s death reminded us that the spirit of independent media “is to believe that journalism is either in the service of justice or it is a cause of injustice.” Brad did not just travel to Oaxaca to shoot for a few hours and leave. He had been there for four weeks doing interviews, participating in the movement and taking candid footage that could show the true spirit of the resistance movements in Oaxaca.

Mainstream media, with the little coverage it has offered, has made it sound as if the federal police were released in Oaxaca due to Brad’s death. Reports largely hold the Mexican government and international policy that birthed this movement unaccountable.

Ask anyone who knew Brad even vaguely, and they will tell you he believed in direct democracy. Brad traveled south to tell the story of a people’s movement that has been spreading across Mexico, not just with the Oaxacañeros, but the Zapatistas, students, unions, workers and farmers.

While there is a chance this movement will die off and the status quo will continue, journalists like Brad helped freeze in time these precious moments of revolutionary struggle.

Currently, we rarely get exposed to the full view of conflict. In Iraq and Mexico alike, the news that benefits the elites of this country makes headlines. This leaves those with a passion for truth, such as Brad Will, to head to the front lines themselves. Unfortunately, this all too often means risking their lives. Is this really what people should have to pay to expose the truth?