[1] Junco is an outspoken advocate for journalistic integrity[2] and has actively campaigned since the 1970s to reform journalism, strengthen press freedom, and promote public information laws in Mexico.

[4] Junco worked in the newsroom and occupied different management positions at El Norte, a Monterrey newspaper founded in 1938 by his grandfather.

[5] When he became publisher of El Norte in 1973, Junco teamed with Mary Gardner—one of his former journalism professors at the University of Texas—to train reporters in journalistic techniques and ethics.

[6] Shortly after Junco took over the leadership of El Norte, the newspaper found itself at odds with the Mexican government after its reporting and editorials angered President Luis Echeverria.

[13] Junco believed that commercial success through selling newspapers and advertising was a fundamental aspect to establishing a free press.

The ethics and integrity that Junco brought to Mexican journalism, along with Grupo Reforma's commitment to exposing fraud and corruption, helped pave the way for democracy and put an end to 70 years of one-party rule in Mexico.

[3] American academics and journalists have lauded Grupo Reforma for the role it has played in the advancement of independent journalism in Mexico over the last 40 years.

"[9] In the early 2000s, Junco helped lead the Oaxaca Group (an initiative that brought together media outlets, legal experts, academics, and NGOs) to convince Mexico's political leaders to approve a landmark federal transparency law.

[15] The freedom-of-information legislation gave journalists, investigators, and ordinary citizens access to government information that had been denied to them for decades.

He publicly denounced defamation charges that government officials (such as former Mexico City mayor Rosario Robles) had levied against him and his reporters.

Grupo Reforma's news coverage and active participation through organized forums[17] eventually persuaded Mexican legislators to approve a 2008 judicial reform that instituted public trials and put greater emphasis on due process rights.