Maria Teresa Montaño Delgado is a freelance journalist and director of the investigative portal The Observer. Her reporting focuses on corruption within the State of Mexico (Edomex), a bastion of the PRI party, which held power in Mexico from 1929 to 2000. Her most recent investigation is a collaborative reporting initiative for Forbidden Stories, The Guardian and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which was also published in El País. For more than 30 years Montaño has chronicled corruption within her home country. She began her career as a correspondent for national media such as Notimex, El Universal, Milenio, and El Financiero. During this time, Montaño began to experience government harassment including public denigration of her reporting, smear campaigns, demands from powerful politicians, tax harassment and isolation by coercion; she was also sued for libel and the lives of her family were threatened. Despite the continuous abuse – including state-sanctioned espionage in 2019 – Montaño continued to report. In February 2020, Montaño was fired from Heraldo de México due to her investigation of Edomex. At this time, she launched The Observer, which specializes in investigative journalism and fact-checking, and is open to all audiences. In August 2021, assailants kidnapped Montaño, threatening death, then stole her car and entered her home to steal laptops, recording equipment and cameras. After her release, Montaño went into exile in Spain until late 2022. Today, in addition to her journalistic pursuits, Montaño spends time promoting the right to freedom of expression for journalists in Mexico and collaborates with Article 19 and CIMAC. She also recently assisted in the creation of the Law for the Protection of Journalists in Mexico.
En Español
Ma. Teresa Montaño, tiene más de 25 años ejerciendo el periodismo en una de las entidades con los mayores índices de corrupción en México, el Estado de México. La mayor parte de su trabajo se ha centrado en documentar abusos y excesos del poder público, fraudes electorales, violencia de género, simulación en temas de transparencia del gobierno local y los entramados de corrupción de las élites políticas, como la adjudicación secreta de pensiones a exgobernadores mexiquenses que logró documentar recientemente. Ha impulsado los primeros proyectos periodísticos en materia de transparencia y rendición de cuentas en el Estado de México. En su trayectoria ha sido corresponsal de los medios nacionales más importantes en México.
Programs
IWMF Awards
- Courage in Journalism Awards , 2023