Ten years ago, Mexico passed some of the best freedom of information laws in the world. But while the laws are great on paper, their implementation has been problematic. Brooke travels to Mexico City to learn more about why Mexico's sunshine laws still struggle to illuminate information for the public.

Los Lobos - La Iguana

Veracruz, home of the bloody Zeta cartel, is now the most dangerous place in Mexico to be a journalist. Nine journalists have been killed in the last 12 months alone. Brooke travels to Veracruz to talk to journalists about reporting under a constant threat of violence.

Elizabeth - Soy Loca Por Ti

Brooke and WNYC reporter Marianne McCune report from Mexico City about how the Mexican media is grappling with the country's upcoming presidential elections, and the youth movement that is tired of business-as-usual.

Los Lobos - El Gusto

Over the past couple years, violence in Ciudad Juarez has fallen from its peak levels, but the city (along with its neighbor accross the border, El Paso) is still trying to revitalize its image. Marianne McCune talks to the mayors of El Paso and Juarez about what they're doing to accomplish this, the 2010 decision to leave Juarez off of an El Paso tourism map, and the recent decision to add it back to the map.

"Alejandra," a reporter who was threatened by the Zeta cartel, began to publish news on place mats that she sold to local restaurants. Brooke talks to "Alejandra" about her determination to report in the face of threats to her and her family.

Just across the border from El Paso, Texas, Ciudad Juarez is notorious for the violence that has accompanied a long war between cartels. Marianne McCune goes to Juarez to see how the once-epicenter of Mexico’s drug violence has changed the city and the reporters who risk their lives to cover it.

Brooke talks to Mike O’Connor of the Committee to Protect Journalists about the risks that reporters face in a country beset by drug-violence, often targeted at the media.  

Mexico has an image problem around the world, exacerbated by stories of violence and corruption —not to mention lingering stereotypes from the era of the Frito Bandito. Brooke talks to a number of people grappling with Mexico's image problem.

Paco de Lucia & Rámon Algeciras - Cielito Lindo

Did I mention Mexico City has some of the most beautiful architecture I have ever seen? Well it does, and a shining example of that is the Palacio de Bellas Artes, or Palace of Fine Arts. Opened in 1934, the enormous theatre is made of white Italian marble, with an entire roof of crystal. Seriously, check this place out:

I’ve been interviewing people who write about depressing things. Journalists, currently in Mexico City, who’ve spent a good part of the past decade (or more) covering horrifying murders, over and over again. The death toll since President Felipe Calderon launched his war on the drug cartels in 2006 is in the tens of thousands. Thirty five thousand? Eighty thousand? Many here dispute the number of murders and disappearances and that’s because only a tiny percentage of them are ever investigated, much less solved.

Brooke Gladstone and producer Sarah Abdurrahman are in Mexico and today Brooke took some time out from recording next week's show to speak with WNYC's Brian Lehrer.  Listen to a preview of what Brooke and OTM will be exploring next week on the show.

The massive demonstration on Sunday included a march to the Independence Angel that originated at El Zócalo, Mexico City's main square which is surrounded by the Presidential Palace, the Metropolitan Cathedral, and the Mexico City government offices. The demonstration was big, but there was a stage being set up in the square that indicated something even bigger was on the horizon: the arrival of Justin Bieber.

On Sunday, Sarah, Marianne and I followed a long march of tens of thousands of protestors through the streets of Mexico City to the Angel of Independence monument, gold and blazing in a stunningly intense sun. The protest itself was surprisingly upbeat - the mostly young people seemed exhilerated by their numbers and the freedom they felt to express anger in the streets.

One of my favorite features of Mexico City is the blank billboards. The ones for which no one has bought an ad. All that remains are quadrants of empty space, beautiful geometric shapes in shades of grey and beige that gain color from this city’s extraordinary evening skies.

Next week, On the Media is going into the field to report on foreign media at an important moment in history. In the past, OTM has traveled to Israel and the West Bank, Russia, China, and just last year to Cairo in the aftermath of the Egyptian revolution. This time, we are going somewhere a bit closer to home, but that  feels worlds away: Mexico.