Beyond the particulars of the Mexican context, the case of Blog del Narco helps us understand a shift in what constitutes a news organization. In this article, we examine Blog del Narco to better understand the information ecosystem in the Mexican drug war and, more broadly, to study how networked technologies are both challenging and augmenting traditional news journalism practices. To this day, the blog's administrators have remained anonymous, although one apparently published a book about the blog under the pseudonym "Lucy." Shortly after the book's publication in 2013, the blog stopped posting new articles, and "Lucy" reported being forced to flee the country due to personal safety concerns. These articles often include gruesome videos and photos not found on mainstream media. (2) The blog is well known for publishing articles about arrests, violent clashes, and executions involving members of rival drug cartels, the military, and law enforcement officers. (1) Soon after launching in March 2010, the blog became one the fifty most visited sites in Mexico.
In the context of the Mexican drug war, the anonymous Blog del Narco has served as an invaluable outlet for disseminating information about the conflict. Reliable information is difficult to obtain in conflict zones, where communication network outages, concern for journalists' safety, and intense political struggles compromise traditional news sources.
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