Investigating corruption and drug trade cost 130+ journalists their lives since 2007. Javier Valdez, killed in 2017, was among the most iconic ones.

Every journalist’s murder is resonant, but eventually, it brings more silence. In some Mexican states, there are no voices left to speak up freely, giving the

Narco-governments the upper hand.

Propuesta Cívica AC, the only Mexican NGO that provides legal support to the families of murdered journalists, looked for a way to promote their cause, and help the journalists continue to speak up. Associated to RSF (Reporters Without Borders)

A country without truth is a country without democracy.

Our brief was to shake Mexican society’s complacency, by reigniting the claim for its right to access proper information and urge the government to commit to a decalogue of policies that would break the existing pacts of corruption and silence that today allow the impunity in crimes against journalists.

98% OF CRIMES AGAINST JOURNALISTS IN MEXICO HAVEN’T BEEN PUNISHED UNTIL 2020.

In most of Mexico, is the organized crime that rules; not the government;

turning various Mexican states into silence zones.

More than 130 journalists have been killed in the last 10 years, with total impunity.

Propuesta Civica is responsible for leading many of these cases into Mexican court and has to deal every day with the corruption and impunity that put obstacles to the investigations.

December 2018. The arrival of a new national government that promised to put an end to corruption in Mexico brought some hope.

Sadly, more than 1 year later, nothing has changed in terms of bringing justice for our murdered journalists. In fact, Mexico’s President López Obrador seems to be part of the problem, when he openly blames and threatens the press when they publish something against the government’s interest.

THE ONLY JOURNALIST THAT CAN SPEAK UP WITHOUT FEAR IN MEXICO IS A DEAD ONE.

Using AI, we brought Javier Valdez murdered in 2017, and his work back to life. Instead of becoming silent, Javier became a symbol of resistance, and even more — a face and voice behind whom his other colleagues could anonymously continue speaking up.

On the Day of the Dead, the most prominent journalists in Mexico shared a powerful video message of Javier with a direct message to Mexico's president.

in terms of execution, we crafted not only an identical image thanks to Deepfake, but also we successfully recreated his voice, by recording several voices of male members of Javier Valdez’s family.

Mexicans got used to living with death. They seem to have lost sensitivity when facing news about murders, even when the murder victims are journalists.

We analyzed the stakeholders’ responses to different pieces of communication. Testimonials are proven to be more effective because of their connection to a real person's story. That’s how we learned that no one would be better than a murdered journalist to become our influencer. Among them, Javier Valdez was the most iconic, because of the depth of the investigations he did, and the relevance of the media he worked for.

Intending to shake Mexican society’s complacency, we targeted prominent journalists, and we surprised them on a zoom call, with the revealing of Javier, without preparing them for it. They became our ambassadors and were the first to simultaneously spread the message with a powerful call to action.

“They try to silence us, but we’re #StillSpeakingUp”

We first gathered the country's most respected journalists and coordinated them to reveal it on national media, live, going through all possible channels at the same time on the Day of the Dead.

According to Mexican traditions, Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead) is when deceased relatives and friends return to visit their families.

For the president it wasn’t a relative nor a friend, but Javier Valdez - a journalist murdered for his investigations; who, thanks to AI, came back on this day in 2020 to demand justice for himself and his colleagues, and free speech for everyone.

We also launched a DECALOGUE for urging the grvernment to commit to policies for protection of journalism and journalists.

April 2019. Murdered journalists’ Twitter accounts revived

Feb 2020. The press conference w/ pilot video of revived Javier

Nov 2020. Day of the Dead: Javier addresses the president on National TV

THIS IS OUR BEST ACHIEVEMENT:

Due to media pressure, trials were reactivated, leading to 6 murderers being convicted for crimes against journalists in Mexico, for the first time.

All 3 main news channels gave prime time to Javier’s video.

30 of Mexico’s most relevant journalists targeted gave prime time space to Javier’s video, and interviewed Javier’s widow and Propuesta Civica NGO directors about the initiative.

More than 100 international media outlets published Javier’s video.

349 Million Organic Impressions.

+40K unique authors

84% positive sentiment

5M USD Earned Media

This campaign is part of the #StillSpeakingUp platform created to use the identities of murdered journalists to protect the safety of the ones at risk today.

This platform has been currently used by at least 120 journalists. Almost one per life taken. This proves that killing a journalist is not enough for silencing the truth.

#STILLSPEAKINGUP