Controlling the Mexican press through self-censorship
Controlling the Mexican press through self-censorship
The miracle of government advertising
Controlling the Mexican press through self-censorship
by Eric Muiz de la Rosa
Mexican journalist residing in Chicago
Ericmunizr@gmail.com
While newspapers in the United States continue to close or struggle due to sinking advertising revenue, in Mexico commercial advertising is something newspapers can do without, because what Mexican newspapers receive from federal, state and municipal governments advertising is more than enough to keep them afloat.
More than government advertising is government propaganda. Is not that the government is advertising in the Mexican media the opening of bids for the construction of dams, roads or bridges, nor is announcing the sale of government properties, or a government-sponsored tourist convention, or the content of a warehouse full of obsolete office equipment to be sold at an auction.
No, the "government advertising" is the daily publication of official press releases, in Mexico journalism called "gacetillas", generally praising the self-proclaimed "successes" and/or accomplishmentsmany time fictitiousof this or that administration, which could include insignificant "achievements" such as the ceremonial opening of a water faucet carrying water from a well recently outfitted with a pump.
In my home city of San Luis Potosi, in central Mexico, the publication of such an event could bring to the owner of the newspaper up to 4,500 dollars if it includes a picture.
In this situation, cash handouts to publishers, editors and even reporters determine what newspapers print.
It has been a long tradition that the Mexican government controls the press through this kind of advertising. In the other hand officials may withdraw advertisements if the newspaper refuses to print what those officials want to get in print or if the newspaper refuses to suppress what they are asked suppress.
This is a tricky situation, its been long believed that the Mexican government imposes censorship on the press, is not censorship per se, rather, the Mexican government exercises an overwhelming power to suppress or publicize any news or opinion it wants.
Freedom of expression is protected under the Mexican Constitution, and is widely respected; you can talk freely. You can criticize government officials and institutions, as long as you don't break the law to criticize them. But freedom of the press is another matter. And a complex one.
Through this unwritten agreement between media and governmentin which newspapers benefit greatlythere is no need of censorship, is something even worse, the greaterjournalistically speakingevil of self-censorship, when objectivity, not to say ethics, is put aside.
Under such circumstances the Mexican press miserably fails to be the bridge between those who govern and those who are governed. The Mexican press fails in its main purpose, which is to inform objectively, balanced and truthfully. 95 per cent of the Mexican press is not responding to the people's needs and demands, rather the Mexican press has turned itself into a one-way street, a single line reserved for one master.
The newspaper business in Mexico is a great business.
OK, that's in regard of advertising, what about circulation? If we round up the numbers, in Mexico City, with a population of 20 million, there are at least 20 daily newspapers, the greatest of which has a dismal daily paid circulation of 20,000 and, recently, reported a profit of almost 2 million dollars in the first quarter. How could that be possible?
In Mexico that's possible.
In my home city of San Luis Potosi, in central Mexico, with a population reaching 800 thousand, there are six major newspapers: La Jornada San Luis; San Luis Hoy: http://www.sanluishoy.com.mx/; Pulso: La Razon and El Sol de San Luis: Incredibly, the self-proclaimed "leader newspaper", Pulso, has a ridiculously low circulation of only 9,000 (http://revistas.ucm.es/inf/11341629/articulos/ESMP0505110103A.PDF). Altogether, the newspapers have a combined circulation of about 18,000. And that's being optimistic.
The 300-plus major newspapers in existence in all Mexico get most of their revenues from local government's advertising. The agreement between newspapers and government is to publishin a daily basisthe so-called advertising in the form of news stories, al the newspapers need to do is wait for the press release through their e-mail address.
The unethical part comes when the newspapers never tell their readers that what they read is paid propaganda, readers think they are reading a news story. To make things worse, the news piece is given a reporter's by-line.
The journalist profession is so disgraceful in Mexico, that even in the "leading" newspaper of my home city San Luis Potosi, its General Editor attaches his by-line to the reprinting of the "gacetilla" the paper has been paid to publish. Word by word "his" article is a copy of the same press release published in the Web site of the local state government, (http://www.oem.com.mx/elsoldesanluis/notas/n1750460.htm) (http://www.sanluispotosi.gob.mx/boletines.aspx?Id=328)
Is not only the he government, single politicians, an ever growing number of companies and businessmen pay to print propaganda in the disguise of news information. With these sort of accommodations, a corrupt politician or a rich businessman accused, for instance, of a heinous crimeat it has been the casethrough a well written, and of course well paid "news" piece can have his reputation protected.
Must be pointed out that government advertising must be published in the front page. Depending of the "importance", in papers outside Mexico City it could cost up to U.S. $10,000. If the advertising is "breaking news", past the deadline, it could be up to 100 per cent more.
Wives and/or families of the politicians are also taken into consideration in these "news", maybe is the wedding of a family member (in the society pages), or the wife of governor began the annual Red Cross collection campaign, or the graduation of a politician's son or daughter.
Do Mexican newspapers really don't have ANY commercial advertising? Yes, they don't, really. One just only needs to peruse the following PDF's: http://www.pulsoslp.com.mx/Pdfs.aspx from the daily Pulso. PDF's for other newspapers can also be reviewed, the results will be the same; no commercial advertising.
To complicate matters, these payoffs are done illegally; there is no law or legal resolution for such expenses. The money is, in fact, being given away to media owners, who in the majority of the cases don't know anything about journalism. A great disservice to journalism.
Withdrawal of Advertising Would Kill Papers
Such is the situation in regard of the lack of commercial advertising and paper sales, that if the government were to withdraw its advertisements from newspapers and magazines, most of them would die almost immediately.
Furthermore, Mexican newspapers do not really practice journalism. Most of the reporters have a passing knowledge of how to write, journalistically speaking. For instance, as with the "gacetillas", they just ignore accuracy and balance, worse yet, they totally ignore the importance of quotes and often use deceptive material, also, they usually suppress important factual information for the simple reason that, as reporters, most of them are self-made.
Outside Mexico City newspapers, regional newspapers not only don't have a style book or a code of ethics, they simply ignore that they exist.
Salaries
Most of the millions of dollars newspapers get from the government go to the owners bank accounts. The largest beneficiary of these monies is Mario Vazquez Rana, owner of the newspaper empire Organizacion Editorial Mexicana (OEM), which includes 72 daily newspapers across Mexico, 5 radio stations, and one TV channel. Imagine getting millions of dollars from 32 different state governments, plus the federal government and more than 500 municipal governments, in exchange of nothing.
How Vazquez Rana became the owner of OEM is another story. One story to difficult to believe, but certainly true.
It's unknown how much money the different (states) Mexican governments spends every year in propaganda published as news stories or in kickbacks to editors and reporters. Some figures might give a slim idea. The press (State Communications Office) budget for the state of Chiapas, one of the poorest states in Mexico last year, amounted to U.S. $5 million. While for the state of Mexico (where Mexico city is located), was U.S. $11.6 million the same year.
Kickbacks, called in the Mexican journalistic jargon "embute" or "chayote.", are more difficult to track down. Politicians may give new model cars to journalists, or they may pay for a European holiday for the journalist and family. In one case, one state governor paid U.S. $20,000 to an editor to kill a negative story about him.
In my home state (San Luis Potosi), reporters are given a monthly stipend and the state government have a food pantry specially for them. (see http://www.etcetera.com.mx/articulo.php?articulo=434) they also receive expensive gifts, such as Mont Blanc pens and wallets, expensive designer suits, watches, and in one case stipends for a trip to Germany.
In an individual basis, editors and reporters follow the official line. Reporters count on commissions they get for each government gacetilla they bring in. Reporters compete with each other in newsrooms to get the richest beatsrich not in information but in political propaganda, because that is the main source of their income. In many cases reporters have their own benefactor, whether a city mayor or a legislator. Publishers pay between five and 12 percent commission to reporters. That is why they also get away with low salaries for journalists.
Again, ethics mean nothing to Mexican journalists, so much as they don't even have the concept of conflict of interest, this widespread practice is not seen as unethical by many. Outside of ethics no existing law prohibits it. It is legal, but it is not legitimate.
In general, Mexican journalists don't have a concept of what conflict of interest means, to supplement their meager salary they are usually sought by politicians to help them, and hire them as kind of public relations consultants. Again, in my home city many reporters double-dip in jobs in different state offices
Mexican journalists are generally self-taught. Journalism schools are virtually unknown. I'm also a self-taught Mexican journalist; the difference is that I decided to better myself in my profession. But guess what, there is no room for true journalist like me in the Mexican press, either that or you adjust back to their standards. So I migrated to the U.S. where I could work in theoh so differentSpanish-language American press.
I also have an Internet site: www.periodismoverdadero.com (which translates to truejournalism).
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