Francisco Javier Ortiz Franco (1954 in Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato – June 22, 2004 in Tijuana, Baja California) was a Mexican journalist, who was murdered after writing about drug trafficking.

[1] In 1980, he joined Jesús Blancornelas and Héctor Félix Miranda in founding Zeta, a weekly magazine known for its coverage of organized crime, drug trafficking, and government corruption.

The murder took place in full view of his son and daughter (aged 9 and 11), as he left a midday doctor's appointment.

[7] Federal prosecutors later linked the murder to the Tijuana Cartel, leaving other options open, with Ortiz's coverage of the organization as the probable motive.

[3] In April 2011, the new editor of Zeta, Adela Navarro Bello ran a front-page story stating that the newspaper had learned from cartel enforcer Luis Alberto Salazar Vega that cartel head Javier Arellano Félix had personally ordered the murder after Ortiz had published photographs of the organization's members.