A Sports Writer at the Barricades

[John Q. Citizen]

A Sports Writer at the Barricades
By David Bacon
t r u t h o u t | Interview

Thursday 30 November 2006

David Bacon speaks with Jaime Medina, sportswriter for the Oaxacan newspaper Noticias (The News), and representative of the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO).
Matamoros, Tamaulipas - While turmoil in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca has been in the headlines for weeks, little media coverage has noted that at its center is a crusading newspaper, Noticias (The News). The daily's sports writer is now a leading spokesperson for the teachers, doctors, nurses, newspaper workers and others who have joined together to call for greater democracy, and a new direction for the state's economy that can provide a future for Oaxacans other than migration north. David Bacon interviewed Jaime Medina in northern Mexico, where the writer was seeking support from the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras.

David Bacon: What's it like being a reporter in Oaxaca?

Jaime Medina: I work for the Oaxacan daily newspaper Noticias. I'm a sports writer. I'm going on twenty-three years at the paper now, and I've covered sports all that time. After only three years I received state recognition for being the best sports reporter in Oaxaca. Originally I wanted to play professionally. I got on a soccer team after I finished school, and played two years as a pro. I say pro, but I actually had to work full time in a film-processing lab to support myself. But I injured my knee, and when I wasn't able to play anymore, I decided to write about it. I love it. At Noticias, you have to be a reporter and a photographer at the same time. I was the first photographer in Oaxaca to use a high power telephoto to get good action shots, and got an award for my work. Now everyone does it.

I'm not really an activist. I'm involved in this struggle because it is for something just, and because we're defending our paper and our rights. But I hope to eventually go back to just writing and photographing sports. Nevertheless, this has been a very memorable experience, and I wouldn't change it for the world.

DB: Why did your newspaper become the center of this turmoil of social protest?

JM: The newspaper has been fighting government persecution because it's the only independent newspaper in the state. A lot of papers work with the government, and they control what is printed. That's not the case with us. We report on what we feel is necessary. It started with former governor Jose Nelson Murat. Two years before completing his last term in office, he tried buying our paper. He was refused, and that's when government persecution began. First they suspended government advertisements, but we continued to function with private ads. Then Murat ordered an invasion of the newspaper's warehouses

Before Murat left office, we were publishing articles regarding corruption in his administration. That did not mean that the newspaper was against the government; it was simply writing about an administration that was clearly taking advantage of its position. But what a coincidence that Murat is now one of the wealthiest men in Mexico.

When the present Governor Ulises Ruiz took office, while he was giving his inaugural speech, officials once again raided the warehouses. Still, we managed to survive. I think he also manages the federal aid to the poor to his benefit. That is one reason why the people want to crucify him now. Noticias has always been critical of the government, all the while just giving the facts. That is why we are the best selling newspaper in the state and also why we've been on the government's bad side.

more...http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/113006T.shtml

[al bupp]

1. Real Reporting, Good Interview. Thanks Truthout /nt