News Metamorphosis

Nicole Eldridge

Extended Essay #2

Writ 1122

News Metamorphosis

            News: it is like gossip, simple as that. Every news source, every reporter, every commentator takes the piece of the news story that they want, emphasizes certain elements, and sometimes either consciously or unconsciously adds their own bias. Take the "Mexican Swine Flu Epidemic”, for example. I can personally testify what actually happened; I lived in Mexico City when it all went down. All of a sudden, I just remember hearing numerous news reports saying that no one could leave their house. Vividly, I can remember literally being confined to my home for weeks. No one was allowed to come celebrate my birthday. School, stores, and many other places were closed. People were swarming out of the city and the country, looking for somewhere safe. When I would go out, I would see hundred of people with facemasks, even in their own car. Buckets of hand-sanitizer were available and even mandatory for people to use. All of my friends from Colorado were calling me, Facebook messaging me, and texting me to make sure I was okay…they were worried that I was not even alive! When I came back to school, everyone was obligated to put on hand-sanitizer before and after every class. If one even coughed or sneezed once, they were immediately sent home. Everyone was allowed to be absent, no questions asked (obviously, everyone would skip class). What was happening? To tell you the truth, I only heard of one person who was affected by the swine flu, besides that I never heard of anyone who knew of someone who has died or contracted the swine flue. Evidently, it was all blown way out of proportion by the news, but why? Mexico wanted attention and publicity, so the news was the perfect way to distort what actually was not as big of a deal as it seemed. Not by any means am I saying that there were not people affected by the swine flu; I am just saying that it was not as tragic, and that the extreme measures taken were not necessary. When I visited Colorado Springs about a month after this so-called “epidemic”, I was astonished by what I found out. Personally, I knew of three girls from my high school and middle school that had gotten the swine flu. My best friend, whose family sponsored several cadets, told me that many of the Air Force Academy cadets had suffered from this terrible virus. Yet everywhere I went, I was bombarded with questions about how I survived the swine flu. How was it possible that in one day, I knew of more people that had the swine flu in the city of Colorado Springs, than I ever knew about during the entire swine flu incubation period in Mexico? Quite simple: the news. Obviously, the Mexican press decided to take an event, distort it, and blow it way out of proportion. Then, the U.S news sources would take that information, and make it sound even more dramatic. In the end, the news of this “terrifying” epidemic got larger and larger and scarier and scarier as it circulated.

            My point is this: a news story can be anything one wants it to be, it can be the truth, it can be an exaggerated version of the truth, it can an opinion on a topic, it can be persuasive, it can be factual, it can be incorrect. A news story has many lives and many versions, for as information of the story travels the version of the story varies.  During my time period in this writing class, I have been following two blogs: “Borderland Beat” and “El Mundo del Narco”. They each give a perspective to the narcotic drug trafficking issues in Mexico. “Borderland Beat” provides American insight, whereas “El Mundo del Narco” provides the Mexican opinion. I would like to focus on a certain topic mentioned in both blogs, and other news sources: the Mexican presidential elections for 2012. Each story has a different outlook and opinion. Presidential elections are a prime example of how news stories have multiple lives and facets. It is fascinating to see how each news source provides similar information on some topics of the election, yet such radically different opinions on others. With regards to the presidential elections in Mexico for 2012, this paper will focus on the opinion of four sources. These sources

 include “Borderland Beat”, el “Blog del Narco”, The Washington Post, and the New York Times. Additionally, I will explain how each source focuses on certain aspects of the 2012 Mexican elections and sheds a certain light upon each topic depending on opinions. Whether it be the PAN party and its respective candidates, the PRI party and its respective candidates, or other aspects of the election each source has presented its article in a way that addresses the reporter’s concerns, biases, and focus points. Please note that I will be focusing on the two leading political parties, PAN and PRI. Although there is another party in the running, the PRD, I will not dedicate focus to the PRD.

            After the current Mexican president’s, Felipe Calderon, time in office there has been much criticism towards the PAN party. Because of the fact that violence has increased during this time, this party has been portrayed in an unfavorable light. Many people are certain that the reason violence has increased is because, unlike the PRI party, the PAN party is not secretly corrupt and does not make pacts with the drug traffickers, like the PRI does. Others simply think that this demonstrates what a poor ruling party the PAN is. Due to the increase in violence and deaths, the PAN lost much favorability and support. Yet, the new woman presidential candidate for the PAN party, Josefina Vazquez Mota, seems to make people wonder if she is just what the country needs (although some people believe that she will continue Calderon’s footsteps). The “Borderland Beat” blog’s article “If PRI regains control: Withdrawal military and return to a pact with the devil?” focuses very little on the PAN party, but more on the PRI. Briefly, they mention Calderon being a harsh critic of U.S policies (which demonstrates the fact that they are clearly blogging from the U.S point of interest) and then go on to say that Vazquez Mota is rising in popularity. Here, an example of Harris’ idea of forwarding comes into play; the blog gives a link to a more in depth article on the woman candidate that sheds an unbiased light on her. El Blog del Narco’s article, “Violencia costaria la presidencia al PAN”, expresses how the increase in violence during Calderon’s presidency is quite likely to cause the loss of the 12-year control by the PAN party. Since “El Blog del Narco” is a Mexican blog with a sense of concern for their people, this blog tends to focus on the country’s issues in a concerning matter. After stating that the PAN party could be at a loss, this blog goes on to address the main issues that could be problematic during the election. This article never mentions candidate, Josefina Vazquez Mota, although several other articles in this blog, portray Vazquez Mota in a positive matter. Also, this blog uses lots of forwarding, for in many articles, including “Violencia costaria la presidencia al PAN”, reference articles from the Washington Post. The Washington Post obviously has similar stories to the one’s in “El Blog del Narco”. Their article, “Mexicans want security, but candidates to succeed Calderon vague on drug war policy”, basically states the same issues that El Blog del Narco’s article did, in another language. To me, the most distinctive factor was the title. One said that violence would cost the PAN party the presidency, and the other said that Mexicans wanted security, but that the new presidential candidates were vague on their drug war policies. Yes, it is basically the same story, but the title gives a completely different feel to each article. Frankly, it took me a while to realize that both of the articles were so closely linked. Finally, the New York Times explicitly portrayed their views on the Mexican elections in their article “Vazquez Mota Paves New Path in Mexico”. Essentially, they showed their support for the PAN party, but in particular the female candidate, Josefina Vazquez Mota. Stating that Vazquez Mota could be “offering a fresh approach for a party that has been mired in a bloody drug war” and that “she’s being put forward as the nurturing, soothing, national caretaker who will put the house back in order”, the Times shows their support for the female candidate. But the PAN is going to struggle in order to keep the presidency this year, for they have been strongly challenged by the PRI party, and their famous candidate, Enrique Pena Nieto. Indeed, the sources had opinions on the PRI party as well.

            Enrique Pena Nieto, Mexico’s political heartthrob, and a member of the PRI party has been leading the race in popularity for the presidency for quite some time. But the PRI party has made their mistakes, and is also known for making corrupt pacts with drug traffickers, to keep the violence rate lower. But making a deal with a villain does not solve a problem: it only hides it. At least that is what many Mexicans believe, which is why lately Nieto has been receiving lots of negative press. Borderland Beat’s title says it all, “If PRI regains control: withdrawal military and return to a pact with the devil? Obviously, this U.S blog believes that Nieto is not the best choice for presidency, at one point they even state “they made pacts with criminals and now Pena Nieto, when the time comes is going to say ‘I don’t know anything…” This demonstrates that Borderland Beat believes that the PRI party hides their involvement in deals with drug traffickers. Obviously, they are not too fond of them. Moreover, “El Blog del Narco”, gives a more favorable depiction of Enrique Pena Nieto; this is probably because Mexicans have idolized Nieto for years. The article, “Pena Nieto pide proteger comicos del narcotrafico”, talks about how Nieto says that the PRI party will not be involved in protecting or making negotiations with the drug traffickers, and that they will not be involved in the so called “dirty war” that could occur. Furious blog followers, use Harris’ idea of countering, by commenting on this article their great rage and hatred towards Nieto and the Mexican government. Interestingly enough, the Washington Post is also favoring Pena Nieto in their article, “Mexicans want security, but candidates vague on drug war policy”, seems to be in accordance with Pena Nieto’s ideals. Why do I say this is interesting? Because this is the second time where one can see that “El Blog del Narco” and the Washington Post have similar views on a topic. This article goes into more detail about general information on Pena Nieto and his standings on certain topics, saying that he is ahead in the poles and that “he will probably enhance Mexico’s cooperation with the United States”. For example, that specific piece of information was not presented in the Mexican blog, probably because it was not as popular of an interest for the Mexican population, as it is for the American population. To be honest, at this point, Mexico is most likely to be concerned with internal problems more than they are relationships with other countries. Finally, the New York Times’ article “Vazquez Mota Paves New Path in Mexico”, once again gives a radical perspective. Although this article focuses on Josefina Vazquez Mota, Enrique Pena Nieto is mentioned “as the telegenic former governor of Mexico State . . . married to one of the country’s biggest soap opera stars . . . despite some gaffes, and the recent acknowledgement of two out-of wedlock children, he still leads . . .in opinion polls “. Making him sound more like a scandalous pop-star, rather than a presidential candidate, the Times leaves it clear that their support goes to Josefina Vazquez. Evidently, the each political party is portrayed the news source wants us to see it, there the PRI gets criticized for being sneaky, but also is leading the opinion polls, stories may differ, but the truth is only one.

            As previously read, political campaigns, especially presidential elections, are the perfect way to exemplify the multiple lives of a news story. Each source wrote about the topics that were convenient for them, and pertinent to their desired audience. Not only did it focus on certain topics or parties more than others, but it also showed a bias towards one side or another. Truly, there is only one story, but a million ways of telling it. That is how the news world works.