In the epilogue one of his books (maybe "the drowned and the saved"?), Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi describes giving a talk to a group of schoolchildren. One boy asked him to describe the layout of the camp, and then described how he would have escaped if he had been in Auschwitz. Nothing Primo Levi could say would convince the boy that escape was impossible.
Now I'm not saying that it was impossible for this citizen journalist to hide her identity, but the comments strike me as having a similar tone. People are simply assuming that her capture and death was preventable, because it is psychologically difficult to face the alternative. Namely, that only by accepting personal risk, was this woman able to stand up to the cartels. Even if the technology to protect her identity existed, maybe a person in this woman's situation would be very unlikely to know about it.
Of constructive suggestions are great, although I'm not qualified to judge their technical merit.
It seems that you have reached the heart of the problem. Most of us are miles away from that sort of threat. When the word is out that people are out there looking to murder you, it is immensely stressful. You cant eat or sleep.
If I was in her place I would have fled to a different city taking a few days off from work or simply given up the activism to reduce it to a level where the mob would not have bothered that much.
Note: Those who think that she could have managed to conceal her identity, why dont you take her work forward ? Whatever she did you too could do it from safety of USA. (Rhetorical challenge of course).
>"Most of us are miles away from that sort of threat"
The violence here is strikingly close to us. I live in Texas and the violence is really not that far away. The cartels have their tentacles all over the US.
I once picked up fight with a local goon who then threatened to take revenge (which probably meant some thrashing). I was scared, I moved to a different city for a month and things cooled down after that.
And against such a dangerous threat, would you really trust that you couldn't be identified by writing analysis from a committed enough opponent? Not to mention the publicised bounty meaning that you could barely confide in anyone or slip up anywhere.
"There's a woman at my work who often uses that same turn of phrase. Wonder if it's her? $50k would really help me."
Now I'm not saying that it was impossible for this citizen journalist to hide her identity, but the comments strike me as having a similar tone. People are simply assuming that her capture and death was preventable, because it is psychologically difficult to face the alternative. Namely, that only by accepting personal risk, was this woman able to stand up to the cartels. Even if the technology to protect her identity existed, maybe a person in this woman's situation would be very unlikely to know about it.
Of constructive suggestions are great, although I'm not qualified to judge their technical merit.