This weekend is Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead, a holiday celebrated in Mexico and other parts of Latin America.

It's a mix of grief and joy honoring the dead.

In Tijuana, Mexico this year, they took the opportunity to remember journalists who have been killed while reporting.

From member station KPBS in San Diego, Matthew Bowler has the story.

The Orenda or altar holds special spiritual significance for Mexicans.

And this one is significant for the group of people it's remembering, built by journalists, 4 journalists.

It's been a difficult year in Mexico to be in the business of reporting.

We are bringing back the reporters killed for this occasion to tell them that we respected their efforts and we believe that journalism is alive.

Vicente Calderon has been a journalist in Tijuana since 1985.

He's seen dozens of Mexican reporters killed during his career.

For many, it's a dangerous job.

In 2016, a UN campaign to end impunity for crimes against journalists inspired him to build an altar to honor his fallen colleagues.

It is decorated with traditional objects of devotion like sugar skulls and brightly colored simpaucil or marigold flowers.

But look closer.

You also see broken cell phones, old cameras, press passes, yellowed newspapers and used notebooks.

Margarito was gunned down, coming out of his home and less than a week later, Lourdes Maldonado was killed when she was arriving to her house.

Simpasuchhu pedals spell out the words no un id ad or no impunity.

Impunity is not compliance with the rule of law and the lack of punishment to whoever who committed a crime.

And last weekend, another Mexican journalist was found dead on the side of the highway.

Miguel Angel Bertrand covered drug cartels and crime in Tarango state.

His body was wrapped in a blanket with a note beside his body that reportedly read, for spreading lies about the people of Durango.

We are averaging one reporter killed a month.

Let's knock on wood and this hope that there's no more killings this year.

The Ofrenda also included a special section to honor journalists killed while reporting on the war in Gaza.

Both Palestinian and Israeli journalists are celebrated.

The altar will remain in place for a few more days, but for Calderon, its meaning is lasting.

And I tried to look at the bright side of things, even when they are this dark.

It's very easy to forget about all these cases of journalists being killed.

They need to be protected and we need to talk about their safety of journalists doing their work.

For PBS News Weekend, I'm Matthew Bowler in Tijuana, Mexico.