Mexican Journalist Is Fired After Report About First Lady
Source: New York Times
Mexican Journalist Is Fired After Report About First Lady
By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD
MARCH 16, 2015
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Carmen Aristegui greeted her
supporters on Monday.
Credit Edgard Garrido/Reuters
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MEXICO CITY One of Mexicos best-known journalists, who exposed a possible conflict of interest involving the first ladys purchase of a house from a government contractor, was fired on Sunday in a dispute that defenders see as an act of retaliation and an attack on press freedom.
The journalist, Carmen Aristegui, who has a long record of exposing the foibles of the elite in an often brusque, opinionated manner as well as clashing with her bosses was dismissed from MVS Radio, where she hosted one of the countrys most popular morning news and talk radio shows.
Officials at the station said she was fired after she threatened to quit if they did not reinstate two members of her investigative team. They were fired last week for using the stations brand in promoting a new web initiative, Mexicoleaks, to collect tips and leaks about government and political corruption.
The site, which began operating last week, has reported receiving several tips.
Ms. Aristegui, who still has a daily talk show on CNN Español, vowed to challenge her dismissal, and later in the evening hundreds of supporters attended a rally at the station. She has characterized her confrontation with the station as a battle over freedom of expression, and many Mexican journalists and intellectuals rushed to defend her on social media.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/17/world/americas/mexican-journalist-is-fired-after-report-about-first-lady.html?_r=0
forest444
(5,902 posts)Her fellow muckraker and best-known ally, Argentine writer Olga Wornat, had to leave Mexico amid death threats after writing a series of exposés on Marta Fox (wife of right-wing former President Vicente Fox) and on the repressive Felipe Calderón administration that followed.
Aristegui herself (awarded Columbia's Maria Moors Cabot Prize in 2008) has had her own Calderón problems, and was fired in 2012 from the same radio network for reporting on Calderón's drinking problems. It turned out that the president's own spokeswoman had called MVS Radio to demand her dismissal (no doubt with threats); but the public outcry was so intense, Aristegui was promptly reinstated.
Real democracy at work, for a change. Hopefully it'll come through again.
Judi Lynn
(160,540 posts)Far BETTER late than never, however.
You are very considerate letting us know about it now! Thank you.
forest444
(5,902 posts)Here's a link to a translated article on Proceso that includes Aristegui's interview of Olga Wornat regarding her problems in Mexico (the threats include some very colorful language):
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.proceso.com.mx/%3Fp%3D287225&prev=search
And here's Carmen Aristegui now, ready for battle:
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.proceso.com.mx%2F%3Fp%3D398572
Eugene
(61,899 posts)Source: Reuters
MEXICO CITY Fri Mar 20, 2015 12:37am EDT
(Reuters) - A Mexican journalist fired from her popular radio show after helping uncover a conflict of interest scandal that embarrassed President Enrique Pena Nieto said on Thursday that she believes his office backed her dismissal.
Speaking to a packed room of reporters, Carmen Aristegui urged her former employer, MVS Radio, to reinstate her and colleagues dismissed last week after a row over their support for a platform aimed at uncovering public sector corruption.
This week, the interior ministry urged MVS and Aristegui, a prominent government critic, to resolve their differences. But when asked if she believed her dismissal had been orchestrated by Pena Nieto's office, the 51-year-old said:
"It looks that way because I can't imagine something of this magnitude without at least some kind of consent from the highest presidential power."
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/20/us-mexico-journalist-idUSKBN0MG0AE20150320