Effective today, all crimes committed against the press or against journalists in Mexico are federal offenses. About 85 Mexican journalists have been killed or disappeared under suspicious circumstances since the year 2000.A proposed constitutional amendment which was passed by Mexico's Senate in March has finally made its way into the law books. It passed the lower legislative body, the Cámara de Diputados, in April, and then was submitted to the 32 states, half or more of which have now endorsed it. (The law was signed by president Calderón Jun. 22).
Details here: Mexico poised to increase protection for journalists, federalizing anti-press crimes: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.mx/2012/03/mexico-poised-to-increase-protection.html.
The United States has a robust First Amendment which courts have repeatedly recognized protects the news gathering process, but no federal criminal laws protect those who do it. If a journalist is murdered in the course of his or her duties it's treated as common crime. The last major incident of such in the U.S. was in 1976 (Challenges to Latin free press: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.mx/2011/11/organized-crime-hostile-governments.html).
Entran en vigor las reformas a la Ley de Periodistas: http://www.milenio.com/cdb/doc/noticias2011/5cd5591293dd412fbffd7ac74cd4dc8f.
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