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Border journalism a risky business




By JONATHAN CLARK, Sierra Vista Herald August 01, 2006



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Naco, Sonora, newspaper tackles big issues aggressively - except for drug and human smuggling
SIERRA VISTA (AP) - Rodolfo Santos, newspaper publisher and editor of El Mirador in Naco, Mexico is not the kind of journalist to pull his punches.

Earlier this year, Santos ran a blistering expose of abuse at a local orphanage in which director Miguel Angel Ramos, the man allegedly responsible for the misdeeds, was regularly referred to as Hitler.


A year prior, El Mirador was relentless in its efforts to uncover corruption on the part of Nacos' then-mayor, Vicente Torres.


Still, there is one area of malfeasance that even Santos is unwilling to expose: organized crime.


"To publish stories about narcotics trafficking or migrant smuggling would put us and our families in danger," he said. "We publish the press releases we get from the authorities on drug arrests, but otherwise, we have to be careful."


Santos' reluctance to tangle with drug cartels and smugglers is not unusual in Mexico, where many journalists self-censor their work on organized crime out of safety concerns.


According to a 2005 report by the international watchdog group Reporters Without Borders, Mexico is now the most dangerous nation in the Americas for journalists.


Last year, says the group, two Mexican journalists were killed and a third went missing as a result of their work. Three others were murdered in 2004, including Francisco Javier Ortiz Franco, a well-known anti-cartel editorialist with the Tijuana weekly, Zeta.


In February, the administration of President Vicente Fox announced it was naming a special prosecutor to investigate crimes against journalists. The new office, however, does not prosecute cases involving drug traffickers or organized crime - those offenses are still the domain of the overworked deputy attorney general for organized crime. It is not just drug-related reporting that gets Mexican journalists in trouble, either.


Unflattering portrayals of the nation's political and economic elite can also earn reprisals. In a case evocative of El Mirador's campaign against the Naco orphanage director, columnist and author Lydia Cacho was arrested last December on libel charges after she accused a prominent businessman of pedophilia.


Still, Santos says, such cases are becoming less and less frequent. He notes Cacho is now free while her accusers face conspiracy charges.


Life for investigative journalists is much better now, he believes, than it was during the 71-year reign of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which ended with Fox's historic presidential victory in 2000.


"Today, with the government of Fox, we have much more freedom of the press," Santos said. "We can criticize the government and we can do it at the federal, state and local levels."


In addition, he said, the Mexican press can now play an important role as a community watchdog and he points to El Mirador's expose of Ramos and Torres as evidence.


A front room in the modest single-level house that Santos, 43, shares with his wife and three children in the Naco town center does double duty as El Mirador's headquarters and a shop selling uniforms for schoolchildren.


El Mirador, which roughly translated means The Viewpoint, is preparing to celebrate its third anniversary in July. It is, Santos explains, Naco's first permanent newspaper.


"There have been a few others, but they just published a few times and stopped," he said. "But that's not what journalism is - serious journalism requires consistency and dedication."


While El Mirador has made its name with its investigative work, it remains a community newspaper. The newspaper also features school news, cultural events, quinceanos celebrations, and even a recent report by Santos' 13-year-old son, Garael, on a possible local discovery of the chupacabras, a mythic horned creature that feasts on the blood of domesticated animals.


Santos founded the newspaper after working as a reporter in Agua Prieta. He does a bit of everything at the paper: editing, design, advertising, circulation, photography and reporting. It is an all-consuming job, and with little financial reward. But he loves the work and the service that a free press provides the people of Naco.


"Journalism is fascinating, it's interesting and it's important," he said. "The people of Naco like and respect El Mirador, and we respect the people as well."


Still, Santos does not forget that his job can be a risky one.


"Here in Mexico, we journalists have to work with a lot of caution," he said.


©Casa Grande Valley Newspapers Inc. 2006
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