[narconews] Donate to Narco News: It Trains a New Generation of Journalists
David B. Briones
Please Distribute Widely
Dear Colleagues,
The drug war is one of the most difficult beats to cover. As
journalists, we must base our reports, analysis, and commentary on
facts. Yet, because drug trafficking is illegal, it is shrouded in
secrecy a secrecy that is protected with violence and incarceration.
The truth about drug trafficking is also cloaked in lies, half-truths,
fuzzy math, and other slights of hand.
For nine years, Narco News has peeled away at the layers of secrecy
and untruths to shed light on the truth behind the drug trade: its
roots, consequences, participants, victims, failures, supporters and
opponents. Weve brought you consistently unique and original
reporting on the drug trade because of your support.
Now, just over a week before our ninth anniversary, we need your
support to continue reporting.
You can make a tax-deductible donation to support the work of Narco
News through The Fund for Authentic Journalism right now by following
this link.
Or you can mail a check or money order to:
The Fund for Authentic Journalism
PO Box 241
Natick, MA 01760 USA
Everyone who contributes $100 or more will be invited to attend Narco
News Ninth Anniversary celebration on April 22 in New York City.
Narco News breaks through the government- and media-manufactured
consensus to bring you fact-based analysis about the drug war in
Mexico and US involvement in it. This fact-based analysis often flies
in the face of what is the conventional wisdom in the corporate
media echo chamber.
Bill Conroy, for example, recently debunked the fuzzy math and even
fuzzier logic that supported the myth that most Mexican cartel guns
come from US gun shows and southern US gun dealers. His article, Legal
U.S. Arms Exports May Be Source of Narco Syndicates Rising Firepower
shows a positive correlation between legal arms exports from US
defense contractors to Mexico and the countrys rising violence.
Conroy followed up that story with another, Private-sector Arms Sales
to Mexico Sparsely Monitored by State Department. Even though Mexican
President Felipe Calderon has stated that drug cartels missile
launchers, machine guns, and grenades come from the US, Conroy wrote
that the State Department has only carried out three inquiries into US
defense exports since 2007.
Meanwhile, Narco News founder and publisher Al Giordano exposed the US
governments doublespeak when it comes to Mexicos governability in
his article, Reports: Carlos Pascual May Be Designated as US
Ambassador to Mexico. In response to claims that the drug war and its
resulting corruption have put Mexico on the road to becoming a failed
state (reportedly boosted by a Pentagon study that came to that
conclusion, US officials have come to the Mexican regimes defense.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, for example, told reporters, I
dont believe there is any ungovernable area in Mexico. If thats so,
Giordano wonders, then why is President Obama considering post-
conflict stabilization expert and Shock Doctor Carlos Pascual for
Ambassador to Mexico?
Regular Narco News readers surely arent at all surprised that Conroy
and Giordano have, yet again, seen through the drug war smokescreen.
I, however, am one of the beneficiaries of their breadth of experience
and knowledge on this beat.
As the drug war becomes increasingly tense and violent, we have to dig
deeper to find the truth behind the smoke and mirrors. As a young and
relatively inexperienced journalist, Ive hit a steep learning curve
on the drug beat: it seems as though the more I learn, the more
questions I have.
The news reports I publish from Mexico are enriched and guided by
those experienced journalists. And for every article I publish, there
are about eight e-mail exchanges between the three of us sharing
information, questions, and theories about what is really going on.
And since hard data is difficult to come by due to the clandestine
nature of the drug industry, Im learning to infer by overlaying other
available data sources and looking for patterns.
It was Conroy who tipped me off to the emerging pattern behind major
DEA busts that lead to the arrest of hundreds of people it says are
working for Mexican drug trafficking organizations. Since the DEA
didnt release the name of a single person arrested from its largest
and hardest hitting operation to ever target the Sinaloa cartel, it
was impossible to tell if the people arrested were really Sinaloa
cartel operatives. So I had to rely on other data and patterns to come
to the conclusion in DEAs Operation Xcellerator is Another Justice
Department Dog and Pony Show, that it is unlikely that all of the
arrested are indeed Sinaloa cartel operatives.
Furthermore, one of the most important things Ive learned during my
time under Conroy and Giordanos wings is that excellent reporting is
impossible without excellent questions (a point Giordano drove home in
The Drug Policy Dance: Ask a Stupid Question . While the Justice
Departments press conference on Operation Xcellerator framed the
question as Who was arrested in Operation Xcellerator, in my article
I asked, What is the result of the 755 Operation Xcellerator
arrests? The answer to the latter question is obvious: with Operation
Xcellerator, the DEA produced quantitative results in a war that has
yet to produce qualitative results. In that light, the true identities
and allegiances of the 755 arrestees are secondary matters.
Giordano prides himself on training journalists, particularly ones who
report on drugs and social movements throughout Latin America. Hes
not only concerned with producing quality reporters; thorough training
is essential to our safety here in Mexico. I run particularly
sensitive stories, interview ideas, and journalism-related travel
plans by Giordano before I move forward, such as when I published Who
Won and Who Lost in Mexicos Narco Protests, which exposed anti-
military protests as pro-government spectacles.
In the nine years since Narco News began publishing, Ive come in line
behind more than 100 young journalists that attended The School of
Authentic Journalism and similar workshops or that were led by the
experienced award-winning journalists of Narco News on road teams to
report a specific story (I got my start with this online newspaper as
part of the 2006 road team covering the Zapatista Other Campaign
throughout many northern Mexican towns and cities.)
In short, Narco News emphasis on mentorship of young journalists
means that youre not just donating to The Fund for Authentic
Journalism so that Narco News can continue to publish for the next
couple of months; your donation helps train a new generation of
authentic journalists who will carry on the fight for decades to come.
So please donate right now at The Fund for Authentic Journalism
website, or send your check or money order to:
The Fund for Authentic Journalism
PO Box 241
Natick, MA 01760 USA
Yours is the gift that very much keeps on giving and will continue to
do so at least for another generation to come.
Thank you,
Kristin Bricker
Mexico Correspondent
Narco News