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richmx2

Jun 10, 2010, 10:28 AM

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Nothing to fear, but fear itself... and the A.P.

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The not so hot Mexico City News catches Associated Press up to their usual tricks:

Associated Press (AP) correspondent Olga R. Rodriguez was on a mission when she came to Cuernavaca in April.
Drug cartel violence had been on the increase in the “city of eternal spring,” and according to AP’s Latin America Editor, Niko Price, he had sent her and her colleague, Oswald Olonso, not to write an in-depth analysis of drug trafficking in this fair city, but to write about “fear.”

But unfortunately for the businesses of Cuernavaca, Rodriguez did not reveal her bias in her article, published on April 28, 2010, and subsequently picked up by news agencies around the globe.

...

When the tables are turned, AP becomes just as defensive and even more closed-mouth than a typical politician,” said Thomas Hansen, Executive Director, Mexico-US Solidarity Network...

Hansen said this was typical of many news pieces coming out of Mexico these days – a combination of entertainment, racism and politically motivated fear mongering.

“If you want to report on drug trafficking, why not tell the whole story – that the vast majority of Mexicans are unaffected by drug-related violence … that the cartels don’t somehow magically end at the US-Mexico border but rather have strong relationships with organized crime in the US,” Hansen added.

http://mexfiles.net
http://voiceofmexico.com
http://editorialmazatlan.com

(This post was edited by richmx2 on Jun 10, 2010, 10:31 AM)

raferguson

Jun 10, 2010, 4:30 PM

Post #2 of 4 (3636 views)

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Re: [richmx2] Nothing to fear, but fear itself... and the A.P.

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As far as I can tell, every media outlet or agency on the planet has their own biases. If you think that a given media outlet is unbiased, that just shows that you and the media outlet have the same biases. ;-)

It is kind of fun to compare news coverage from a left wing newspaper like La Jornada to a conventional newspaper like El Universal, very different. Maybe I should write an article comparing different newspapers and pointing out the differences in stories covered, what is emphasized, biases, etc.

A paper like the Mexico City News is tied to marketing to English Speaking Expatriates, so anything that would scare potential customers is going to be played down, as their advertisers would not like it. If you look at the homepage of the Mexico City News it has much less on crime and violence than El Universal. Today's News has nothing, zero, on crime and violence in Mexico. The only crime article was about a crime in Indianapolis Indiana! El Universal has several articles on crime, violence, and narcotics traffic. So I would judge the Mexico City News as biased against reporting on Mexico's problems.

Another bias is a national bias, that is, the reporter, the editor, and even experts are likely to play down problems in their own country, especially when writing or speaking for a foreign audience. This may be part of the explanation for the Mexico City News.

Of course reporters get assigned stories, and try to give the editor what the editor wants. I am sure that sometimes the reporter comes back to the editor and says that the story that the editor wants is not there, and offers a different story. If the reporter thought that the fear was overhyped, the reporter could have written an article contrasting the hype vs. daily life.

Richard

http://www.fergusonsculpture.com

richmx2

Jun 10, 2010, 6:23 PM

Post #3 of 4 (3606 views)

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Re: [raferguson] Nothing to fear, but fear itself... and the A.P.

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I don't think you read the article. It wasn't "the reporter" who questioned the veracity of A.P., it was the people interviewed by A.P., who claim quotes they never said, were attributed to them, and other quotes were taken out of context.

Edward R. Murrow once said there was nothing wrong with biases, as long as you acknowledge them. The problem with corporate media is that the decision makers are no different than the decision makers in any large corporation. The people who run the New York Times, Fox News, Associated Press and McDonalds are pretty much interchangeable. That doesn't make them bad, just limited in their outlook. And, just as likely to misrepresent their product. A hamburger not quite the size shown by the ad is one thing -- factual inaccuracy when the product is facts is quite another.

http://mexfiles.net
http://voiceofmexico.com
http://editorialmazatlan.com

raferguson

Jun 10, 2010, 7:44 PM

Post #4 of 4 (3585 views)

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Re: [richmx2] Nothing to fear, but fear itself... and the A.P.

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Making up quotes is bad and dishonest reporting, but I would blame the reporter and not the AP. Taking quotes out of context is a gray area, in that it is not always feasible in a short article to give a full context for any quote. It would be interesting to see the reporter's side of the story. Did anybody use a tape recorder for the interviews?

I remember being quoted in a local newspaper. Nothing that I thought was important was quoted or mentioned, only a pithy quote that I stole from Napoleon Bonaparte. The quote was accurate, but not what I wanted them to publish. Luckily it was not anything bad, just a little silly. A reminder to watch what you say when you speak to the press; a side comment could be what the reporter seizes on for his article, not the point that you really wanted to make. I have had a little bit of training in Public Relations, and have learned to keep any statements that I make short, and on the point that I intended to make. Stay on message.

And yes, I did read the whole article, but I focused on a different aspect of the article than you did. So this discussion is an example where two people can read the same document and come to completely different conclusions, each of which has a basis in the text of the article. Equally, I imagine that if five reporters heard the same discussion, they would write five articles, each with perhaps a completely different focus, reflecting their own interests, background, prejudices, as well as their understanding of what their editors wanted.

To me, having the Mexico City News call the AP prejudiced is the pot calling the kettle black.

Richard

http://www.fergusonsculpture.com

(This post was edited by raferguson on Jun 10, 2010, 7:57 PM)