MEXICO ORCHESTRATES MEDIA CHORUS OF DENIAL

By Juan Montoya

If ever there was an example of how the Mexican government has been orchestrating (muzzling) the media to bamboozle its citizens and those across the ditch, take a gander at the editions of today's Matamoros' two major dailies.

There, in banner headlines, the newspapers (El Bravo – El Periódico de Tamaulipas and El Mañana –Gran Diario Independiente) state that "Tiene Gobernador total respaldo de Federación", or The governor has the support of Mexican federation.

After months of turning a blind eye to the siege-like conditions in which the citizens of their cities live, these dailies are demonstrating that they are merely megaphones of the state and federal governments. Not only are the headlines identical, the teaser above the headline also refers to identical stories inside where the Mexican Secretary of Gobernación (Homeland Security?) Fernando Gomez Mont met with Tamaulipas Governor Eugenio Hernandez.

Both dailies feature a picture of both men below the headline on the front page.

Not convinced yet?

How about the lead articles on the front pages of both newspapers being identical (word for word)?

The article in El Bravo consists of four long paragraphs where Hernandez and Gomez Mont chide those who would panic the population by spreading rumors that disturb the peace and tranquility of the region.

El Mañana does one better. They continue with the government-fed announcement for three more self-serving paragraphs touting the security and serenity that pervade the northern border with the United States.

Both men made these statements in Reynosa. But they were not there alone. Helicopter gunships circled the news conference site and a massive show of armored card and convoys of soldiers roamed the area around the media event. Traffic near and around the site was cordoned and soldiers walked the streets in pairs eyeing the surroundings.

In other words, reality on the ground clashed with the obvious fabrications being broadcast to the Mexican nation.

Mexican media are wed to government largess and this is but the most blatant example of how these subsidies generate coverage that flies in the face of reason and the reality facing border residents on the Mexican side.

Until these media realize that spreading government propaganda does nothing for not only their credibility, but also that of the government, then citizens will merely pass by the newsstands and shake their heads.