Carmen Aristegui, considered the most famous newscast journalist in Mexico, once hosted a daily morning radio talk show followed devoutly by millions of middle-class Mexicans. Her personal brand of investigatory journalism was markedly different from the standard of Mexican media: aggressive, probing—if sometimes lacking in reportorial rigor.

One of the most shameful chapters in Mexico’s history brings into question deep-seated corruption and the role of righteous indignation in the pursuit of justice for the victims of state-sanctioned violence.