Border reporters and editors discuss dangers, challenges of reporting violence
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molly
Dec 6, 2010, 3:37:34 PM12/6/10
to Frontera LIst
TWO REPORTS from the news editors and reporters conference being held
at UTEP. Below is translation of this article on the presentations by
Sandra Rodriguez of El Diario and Alejandro Hernandez Pacheco of
Televisa. Also a report from the El Paso Times on the editors' panel
yesterday.
If any list participants attended the conference and would like to
report or comment, please send to the list or to my email:
molly...@gmail.com
http://www.diario.com.mx/notas.php?f=2010/12/06&id=11bf589369e95fced9b071ab1def2fd8
‘Coberturas de El Diario van más allá de la nota policiaca’
De la redacción
El Diario de El Paso | 06-12-2010 | 11:42
Sandra Rodríguez Nieto, reportera investigadora de El Diario de
Juárez, explicó ante una audiencia de reporteros y editores de
diversas partes del mundo cómo la cobertura periodística de la "guerra
contra el narcotráfico" en Ciudad Juárez va más allá de los aspectos
meramente criminales de los asesinatos.
"Tratamos de cubrir la escena del crimen, para encontrar aspectos
humanos que resulten de interés", dijo Rodríguez en su ponencia en la
Cumbre de Editores de Periódicos Fronterizos que se realiza en UTEP.
Como ejemplo, presentó notas publicadas en El Diario que revelan el
sufrimiento de los familiares de las víctimas de la narcoguerra.
"Llegó a su casa y encontró a 4 familiares muertos", señala uno de los
titulares, que precede una nota en que se cuenta cómo una trabajadora
de maquiladora descubrió, antes de que llegara la Policía que su
esposo e hijos habían sido ejecutados.
Rodríguez, ganadora junto con Luz del Carmen Sosa, también de El
Diario del premio "Periodistas del Mundo", en Madrid, España, explicó
cómo es necesario hurgar en el sistema judicial, ya que en ocasiones
se encuentran casos donde las personas son acusadas de múltiples
crímenes pero no se les fincan cargos por el mismo número de
homicidios.
"Muy poco se va a poder hacer para proteger a los periodistas
mexicanos mientras no se detenga un asesino, y eso le corresponde a
los fiscales", dijo la reportera.
"Yo intenté escaparme"
Alejandro Hernández Palacio, reportero de Televisa Torreón, quien
fuera secuestrado por elementos del narcotráfico, narró como fue
detenido por criminales junto con otros tres colegas para manipular
información en los medios de comunicación.
"La guerra del narco no sólo vibra en Tamaulipas", señaló el
camarógrafo, quien fuera privado de su libertad en junio pasado.
"Querían que no saliera más la nota de la directora del penal de Gómez
Palacio, Durango, quien dejaba que reos salieran en las noches y
cometieran ejecuciones", dijo.
Agregó que mientras estuvo secuestrado intentó escapar, acción por la
que piensa, sus hijos estarían orgullosos.
"Al final fuimos utilizados por la Policía Federal, nos hicieron
declarar en cuanto nos liberaron en el DF (Distrito Federal), para que
pareciera su triunfo", dijo Hernández Palacio, quien busca asilo
político en El Paso.
GOOGLE TRANSLATION
'El Diario coverage goes beyond the police beat'
From the editors
El Diario de El Paso | 12.06.2010 | 11:42
Sandra Rodriguez Nieto, investigative reporter for El Diario de
Juarez, told an audience of reporters and editors from around the
world how the coverage of the "war on drugs" in Ciudad Juárez goes
beyond the purely 'criminal murders.
"We try to cover the crime scene, to find human aspects that are of
interest," Rodriguez said during his presentation to the Summit of
Newspaper Editors Border is done at UTEP.
As an example, had articles published in El Diario which reveal the
suffering of the families of the victims of the drug war.
"He arrived home and found 4 dead relatives," says one owner,
preceding a note which tells how a maquiladora worker discovered
before it reached the police that her husband and children had been
executed.
Rodriguez, winner along with Luz del Carmen Sosa, also of El Diario of
the award "World Journalists, Madrid, Spain, explained how it is
necessary to delve into the judicial system, because sometimes there
are cases where people are accused of multiple crimes but no charges
brought by the same number of homicides.
"Very little will be able to do to protect Mexican journalists while
not stop a murderer, and that is up to prosecutors," said the
reporter.
"I tried to escape"
Alejandro Hernández Palacio, Torreón Televisa reporter who was
abducted by drug traffickers, narrated how he was arrested by
criminals along with three colleagues to manipulate information in the
media.
"The drug war is not only vibrates in Tamaulipas," said the cameraman,
who was deprived of his freedom last June.
"They wanted us out no more than note the warden of Gomez Palacio,
Durango, who let criminals go out at night and committing executions,"
he said.
He added that while he was kidnapped tried to escape, action by the
thought that, their children would be proud.
"In the end we were used by the Federal Police, we were declared as
liberated us in the DF (Federal District), to look like his triumph,"
Hernandez said Palacio, who is seeking political asylum in El Paso.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_16786444
Border editors discuss dangers, challenges of reporting violence
by Diana Washington Valdez \ El Paso Times
Posted: 12/06/2010 12:00:00 AM MST
Click photo to enlarge
Juarez journalist Alejandro Hernandez Pacheco attends the ASNE...
(Mark Lambie / El Paso Times)
U.S. and Mexico editors who supervise news coverage of Mexico's drug
violence agreed that reporters face dangers similar to those
encountered in war zones.
Some of the hazards include being shot at, traveling through regions
controlled by violent drug-traffickers, encountering "carjacking
stations" posing as military checkpoints, and being used by informants
with hidden agendas.
Bulletproof vests are part of the equipment the Associated Press
provides to its reporters in Mexico, said Wendy Benjamin, the AP's
Texas news editor and leader of the news organization's international
drug war beat team.
"We have U.S.-based reporters who cross the border, who are fluent in
Spanish and have experience ... some have bulletproof vests," said
Benjamin, one of the panelists Sunday at the Border Newspapers Editors
Summit at the University of Texas at El Paso.
The two-day conference that continues today is co-sponsored by UTEP,
the American Society of News Editors, the InterAmerican Press
Association, the Associated Press, the Ford Foundation and the El Paso
Times. Organizers said the conference will focus on how reporters in
Mexico can do their job with greater safety.
Alfredo Quijano, editor of El Norte de Ciudad Juárez, said,
"Informants are sometimes posted at crime scenes, and they pass on
details to reporters, such as names of homicide victims, before the
police even have the information.
"We require our reporters to identify these sources, and we discuss at
length
in editorial meetings whether we should use the information they
provide," Quijano said. "We don't want to become a mouthpiece for the
drug cartels, or to become involved in their competition on who is the
toughest of their groups."
At least 24 Mexican journalists have been killed in Mexico during the
past four years, according to the New York-based Committee for the
Protection of Journalists. Brad Will, a U.S. freelance journalist
affiliated with Indymedia, was murdered in Oaxaca in 2006; his death
is unsolved.
Chris Lopez, editor of the El Paso Times, which is assisting with the
two-day conference, said he makes sure that editors in the newsroom
keep track of reporters who cross the border to report on stories.
"There's no such thing as 'green zones' in Mexico," Lopez said.
The green zone referred to an area in Baghdad controlled by coalition
forces that provided relative safety to residents and other occupants.
Miguel Angel Vargas Quiñones, editor of Contexto in Durango, Mexico,
said during a break that his staff takes a careful approach to
covering the drug cartel wars.
"For example, we avoid getting into whether this or that cartel is
behind an attack," Vargas said. "We describe the assailants only as
'armed commandos,' and this serves to avoid provoking the cartels.
"We also try to find out as much as possible about the victims, such
as if they are tied to organized crime. Reporting as completely as we
can about the victims and their attackers reduces the terror level to
the community, because the violence does not seem as random."
Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at dva...@elpasotimes.com;
546-6140.
at UTEP. Below is translation of this article on the presentations by
Sandra Rodriguez of El Diario and Alejandro Hernandez Pacheco of
Televisa. Also a report from the El Paso Times on the editors' panel
yesterday.
If any list participants attended the conference and would like to
report or comment, please send to the list or to my email:
molly...@gmail.com
http://www.diario.com.mx/notas.php?f=2010/12/06&id=11bf589369e95fced9b071ab1def2fd8
‘Coberturas de El Diario van más allá de la nota policiaca’
De la redacción
El Diario de El Paso | 06-12-2010 | 11:42
Sandra Rodríguez Nieto, reportera investigadora de El Diario de
Juárez, explicó ante una audiencia de reporteros y editores de
diversas partes del mundo cómo la cobertura periodística de la "guerra
contra el narcotráfico" en Ciudad Juárez va más allá de los aspectos
meramente criminales de los asesinatos.
"Tratamos de cubrir la escena del crimen, para encontrar aspectos
humanos que resulten de interés", dijo Rodríguez en su ponencia en la
Cumbre de Editores de Periódicos Fronterizos que se realiza en UTEP.
Como ejemplo, presentó notas publicadas en El Diario que revelan el
sufrimiento de los familiares de las víctimas de la narcoguerra.
"Llegó a su casa y encontró a 4 familiares muertos", señala uno de los
titulares, que precede una nota en que se cuenta cómo una trabajadora
de maquiladora descubrió, antes de que llegara la Policía que su
esposo e hijos habían sido ejecutados.
Rodríguez, ganadora junto con Luz del Carmen Sosa, también de El
Diario del premio "Periodistas del Mundo", en Madrid, España, explicó
cómo es necesario hurgar en el sistema judicial, ya que en ocasiones
se encuentran casos donde las personas son acusadas de múltiples
crímenes pero no se les fincan cargos por el mismo número de
homicidios.
"Muy poco se va a poder hacer para proteger a los periodistas
mexicanos mientras no se detenga un asesino, y eso le corresponde a
los fiscales", dijo la reportera.
"Yo intenté escaparme"
Alejandro Hernández Palacio, reportero de Televisa Torreón, quien
fuera secuestrado por elementos del narcotráfico, narró como fue
detenido por criminales junto con otros tres colegas para manipular
información en los medios de comunicación.
"La guerra del narco no sólo vibra en Tamaulipas", señaló el
camarógrafo, quien fuera privado de su libertad en junio pasado.
"Querían que no saliera más la nota de la directora del penal de Gómez
Palacio, Durango, quien dejaba que reos salieran en las noches y
cometieran ejecuciones", dijo.
Agregó que mientras estuvo secuestrado intentó escapar, acción por la
que piensa, sus hijos estarían orgullosos.
"Al final fuimos utilizados por la Policía Federal, nos hicieron
declarar en cuanto nos liberaron en el DF (Distrito Federal), para que
pareciera su triunfo", dijo Hernández Palacio, quien busca asilo
político en El Paso.
GOOGLE TRANSLATION
'El Diario coverage goes beyond the police beat'
From the editors
El Diario de El Paso | 12.06.2010 | 11:42
Sandra Rodriguez Nieto, investigative reporter for El Diario de
Juarez, told an audience of reporters and editors from around the
world how the coverage of the "war on drugs" in Ciudad Juárez goes
beyond the purely 'criminal murders.
"We try to cover the crime scene, to find human aspects that are of
interest," Rodriguez said during his presentation to the Summit of
Newspaper Editors Border is done at UTEP.
As an example, had articles published in El Diario which reveal the
suffering of the families of the victims of the drug war.
"He arrived home and found 4 dead relatives," says one owner,
preceding a note which tells how a maquiladora worker discovered
before it reached the police that her husband and children had been
executed.
Rodriguez, winner along with Luz del Carmen Sosa, also of El Diario of
the award "World Journalists, Madrid, Spain, explained how it is
necessary to delve into the judicial system, because sometimes there
are cases where people are accused of multiple crimes but no charges
brought by the same number of homicides.
"Very little will be able to do to protect Mexican journalists while
not stop a murderer, and that is up to prosecutors," said the
reporter.
"I tried to escape"
Alejandro Hernández Palacio, Torreón Televisa reporter who was
abducted by drug traffickers, narrated how he was arrested by
criminals along with three colleagues to manipulate information in the
media.
"The drug war is not only vibrates in Tamaulipas," said the cameraman,
who was deprived of his freedom last June.
"They wanted us out no more than note the warden of Gomez Palacio,
Durango, who let criminals go out at night and committing executions,"
he said.
He added that while he was kidnapped tried to escape, action by the
thought that, their children would be proud.
"In the end we were used by the Federal Police, we were declared as
liberated us in the DF (Federal District), to look like his triumph,"
Hernandez said Palacio, who is seeking political asylum in El Paso.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_16786444
Border editors discuss dangers, challenges of reporting violence
by Diana Washington Valdez \ El Paso Times
Posted: 12/06/2010 12:00:00 AM MST
Click photo to enlarge
Juarez journalist Alejandro Hernandez Pacheco attends the ASNE...
(Mark Lambie / El Paso Times)
U.S. and Mexico editors who supervise news coverage of Mexico's drug
violence agreed that reporters face dangers similar to those
encountered in war zones.
Some of the hazards include being shot at, traveling through regions
controlled by violent drug-traffickers, encountering "carjacking
stations" posing as military checkpoints, and being used by informants
with hidden agendas.
Bulletproof vests are part of the equipment the Associated Press
provides to its reporters in Mexico, said Wendy Benjamin, the AP's
Texas news editor and leader of the news organization's international
drug war beat team.
"We have U.S.-based reporters who cross the border, who are fluent in
Spanish and have experience ... some have bulletproof vests," said
Benjamin, one of the panelists Sunday at the Border Newspapers Editors
Summit at the University of Texas at El Paso.
The two-day conference that continues today is co-sponsored by UTEP,
the American Society of News Editors, the InterAmerican Press
Association, the Associated Press, the Ford Foundation and the El Paso
Times. Organizers said the conference will focus on how reporters in
Mexico can do their job with greater safety.
Alfredo Quijano, editor of El Norte de Ciudad Juárez, said,
"Informants are sometimes posted at crime scenes, and they pass on
details to reporters, such as names of homicide victims, before the
police even have the information.
"We require our reporters to identify these sources, and we discuss at
length
in editorial meetings whether we should use the information they
provide," Quijano said. "We don't want to become a mouthpiece for the
drug cartels, or to become involved in their competition on who is the
toughest of their groups."
At least 24 Mexican journalists have been killed in Mexico during the
past four years, according to the New York-based Committee for the
Protection of Journalists. Brad Will, a U.S. freelance journalist
affiliated with Indymedia, was murdered in Oaxaca in 2006; his death
is unsolved.
Chris Lopez, editor of the El Paso Times, which is assisting with the
two-day conference, said he makes sure that editors in the newsroom
keep track of reporters who cross the border to report on stories.
"There's no such thing as 'green zones' in Mexico," Lopez said.
The green zone referred to an area in Baghdad controlled by coalition
forces that provided relative safety to residents and other occupants.
Miguel Angel Vargas Quiñones, editor of Contexto in Durango, Mexico,
said during a break that his staff takes a careful approach to
covering the drug cartel wars.
"For example, we avoid getting into whether this or that cartel is
behind an attack," Vargas said. "We describe the assailants only as
'armed commandos,' and this serves to avoid provoking the cartels.
"We also try to find out as much as possible about the victims, such
as if they are tied to organized crime. Reporting as completely as we
can about the victims and their attackers reduces the terror level to
the community, because the violence does not seem as random."
Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at dva...@elpasotimes.com;
546-6140.
molly
Dec 6, 2010, 3:44:52 PM12/6/10
to Frontera LIst
And here is a report from McClatchy reporter Tim Johnson from the
conference:
http://blogs.mcclatchydc.com/mexico/2010/12/someone-is-pointing-a-pistol-at-us.html
12/06/2010
'Someone is pointing a pistol at us'
I’m attending a conference in El Paso, Texas, on the dangers faced by
Mexican journalists, particularly along the U.S.-Mexican border. It
is quite sobering.
Two top editors from newspapers based in Ciudad Juarez spoke frankly
about the threats to their reporters. Here are some notes.
“El Diario has been wounded. It has been affected by the war. We have
lost two reporters,” said Armando Velez, who now edits the paper’s
Spanish language edition in El Paso, a victim himself of threats to
journalists.
Velez said new rules have emerged for journalists covering the daily
maelstrom of violence in Juarez, a city that is the most violent in
the hemisphere. Most of the stories about the most grisly incidents
are bylined “staff” rather than the reporter’s name to prevent
reprisals.
“We also decided not to get to the crime scene before the police,” he
said. Some times the bad guys linger around to see who shows up.
Another editor, Alfredo Quijano Hernandez, of El Norte, was blunt
about the lack of control in Juarez, a city of 1.3 million people.
“The criminals are the ones who call the shots in the streets of
Juarez,” he said. “The peace or war in Juarez is decided by the drug
traffickers, not the authorities.”
The drug capos are very touchy about what appears in print. If a
reporter puts in a name of someone who wants to stay out of the news,
he or she is likely to get a call – or worse.
“We all act as if someone is pointing a pistol at us,” Quijano said.
The conference at the University of Texas, El Paso, continues today.
One curious detail: How many journalists have been murdered in Mexico
in the past 10 years? If you listen to Catalina Botero, the special
rapporteur for press freedom for the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights, you'll believe it is 64 journalists. If you listen to my
colleague and friend Mike O'Connor of the Committee to Protect
Journalists, you'll hear the much more conservative number 30. The
difference is the vast number of journalists who are simply missing.
In some cases, their bodies have not been found. In other cases,
uncertainty surrounds the circumstances of their disappearances. In
some cases, prosecutors (who often are extremely reluctant to
investigate) simply decide that the journalist had an enemy unrelated
to their work who decided to kill them.
One other interesting detail: O'Connor, who has very good contacts
among journalists along the border, said the state of Tamaulipas is
virtually in the hands of the narcos. What's more, in the city of
Reynosa, everyone from the street vendors to the cops, business owners
and up through the ranks of City Hall are all working for the narcos.
They are on the payroll or are intimidated.
Posted by Tim Johnson at 09:04 AM in Border issues, Drug war, Mexican
media | Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451c64169e20147e06b6af3970b
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference 'Someone is pointing
a pistol at us':
Read more: http://blogs.mcclatchydc.com/mexico/2010/12/someone-is-pointing-a-pistol-at-us.html#ixzz17MmZPSct
On Dec 6, 1:37 pm, molly <mollymol...@gmail.com> wrote:
> TWO REPORTS from the news editors and reporters conference being held
> at UTEP. Below is translation of this article on the presentations by
> Sandra Rodriguez of El Diario and Alejandro Hernandez Pacheco of
> Televisa. Also a report from the El Paso Times on the editors' panel
> yesterday.
>
> If any list participants attended the conference and would like to
> report or comment, please send to the list or to my email:
> mollymol...@gmail.com
>
> http://www.diario.com.mx/notas.php?f=2010/12/06&id=11bf589369e95fced9...
> Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at dval...@elpasotimes.com;
> 546-6140.
conference:
http://blogs.mcclatchydc.com/mexico/2010/12/someone-is-pointing-a-pistol-at-us.html
12/06/2010
'Someone is pointing a pistol at us'
I’m attending a conference in El Paso, Texas, on the dangers faced by
Mexican journalists, particularly along the U.S.-Mexican border. It
is quite sobering.
Two top editors from newspapers based in Ciudad Juarez spoke frankly
about the threats to their reporters. Here are some notes.
“El Diario has been wounded. It has been affected by the war. We have
lost two reporters,” said Armando Velez, who now edits the paper’s
Spanish language edition in El Paso, a victim himself of threats to
journalists.
Velez said new rules have emerged for journalists covering the daily
maelstrom of violence in Juarez, a city that is the most violent in
the hemisphere. Most of the stories about the most grisly incidents
are bylined “staff” rather than the reporter’s name to prevent
reprisals.
“We also decided not to get to the crime scene before the police,” he
said. Some times the bad guys linger around to see who shows up.
Another editor, Alfredo Quijano Hernandez, of El Norte, was blunt
about the lack of control in Juarez, a city of 1.3 million people.
“The criminals are the ones who call the shots in the streets of
Juarez,” he said. “The peace or war in Juarez is decided by the drug
traffickers, not the authorities.”
The drug capos are very touchy about what appears in print. If a
reporter puts in a name of someone who wants to stay out of the news,
he or she is likely to get a call – or worse.
“We all act as if someone is pointing a pistol at us,” Quijano said.
The conference at the University of Texas, El Paso, continues today.
One curious detail: How many journalists have been murdered in Mexico
in the past 10 years? If you listen to Catalina Botero, the special
rapporteur for press freedom for the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights, you'll believe it is 64 journalists. If you listen to my
colleague and friend Mike O'Connor of the Committee to Protect
Journalists, you'll hear the much more conservative number 30. The
difference is the vast number of journalists who are simply missing.
In some cases, their bodies have not been found. In other cases,
uncertainty surrounds the circumstances of their disappearances. In
some cases, prosecutors (who often are extremely reluctant to
investigate) simply decide that the journalist had an enemy unrelated
to their work who decided to kill them.
One other interesting detail: O'Connor, who has very good contacts
among journalists along the border, said the state of Tamaulipas is
virtually in the hands of the narcos. What's more, in the city of
Reynosa, everyone from the street vendors to the cops, business owners
and up through the ranks of City Hall are all working for the narcos.
They are on the payroll or are intimidated.
Posted by Tim Johnson at 09:04 AM in Border issues, Drug war, Mexican
media | Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451c64169e20147e06b6af3970b
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference 'Someone is pointing
a pistol at us':
Read more: http://blogs.mcclatchydc.com/mexico/2010/12/someone-is-pointing-a-pistol-at-us.html#ixzz17MmZPSct
On Dec 6, 1:37 pm, molly <mollymol...@gmail.com> wrote:
> TWO REPORTS from the news editors and reporters conference being held
> at UTEP. Below is translation of this article on the presentations by
> Sandra Rodriguez of El Diario and Alejandro Hernandez Pacheco of
> Televisa. Also a report from the El Paso Times on the editors' panel
> yesterday.
>
> If any list participants attended the conference and would like to
> report or comment, please send to the list or to my email:
>
> http://www.diario.com.mx/notas.php?f=2010/12/06&id=11bf589369e95fced9...
> 546-6140.
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