The
On the Media clip I chose to listen and respond to for this week's assignment was called
Why One Mexican Journalist Said 'No' To An El Chapo Exclusive. El Chapo has been a hot topic among news stations across the country ever since his interview with celebrity actor Sean Penn. Due to the trending topic of El Chapo, this audio clip was an interview between
On the Media's Bob Garfield and
El Universal's Raymundo Riva Palacio (featured below). Palacio happens to be the man that declined the chance to interview El Chapo. This exchange dives into Palacio's side of the story and how he really feels about saying no to interview one of Mexico's most influential people.
In 2008, Raymundo Riva Palacio was the managing editor for one of Mexico City's biggest newspaper companies: El Universal. In the same year, Palacio was given the chance to have an exclusive interview with El Chapo. This was a man who could be found in the higher ranks of the Mexican drug cartel world. Palacio knew immediately that this was a story he did not want to write.
In backing up his answer to say 'no,' Palacio used three reasons to support his choice. First, he felt the interview with El Chapo was a trap. He wanted to take whatever safety precautions he could in order to protect himself and everyone else that would be involved. There was a real possibility that El Universal would be brought right into the heat of the cartel wars. The realization that the newspaper company could be seen as taking sides in a messy battle would result in having targets placed upon their backs by rivaling cartels. He understood no journalist would make it out alive if the interview took place.
Secondly, Palacio knew that once a deal had been struck, things were to be done a certain way. The common phrase "my way or the highway" seems to sum up El Chapo's personality. This in itself would send up red flags in any Mexican journalists' mind. He said in the interview that El Chapo would be using the newspaper company as his personal mouthpiece. He could say what he wanted when he wanted to say it.
Third, there was no threat from the publisher to get the interview and story done. Garfield asked the question about the possibility of having the newspaper lose a ton of money. Palacio responded confidently that the publisher said it would not be an issue.
In trying to understanding the meaning behind the interview, I tried to look at it through various contexts: psychological, social, and cultural. By using the contexts, the meaning to me becomes simple; when deciding whether or not to do something, avoid the choice if the risks outweigh the reward. It was a theme I identified throughout the interview. Palacio's reasons to why he did not take the interview are evident to this meaning. I want to delve a little more into the various contexts to help clarify how I identified the meaning.
To begin, I tried to understand what was going on in the mind of Raymundo Riva Palacio in 2008. He shared with Bob Garfield several times how dangerous it would be to have an interview with El Chapo. He specifically made mention of the numerous deaths that had taken place of journalists at the feet of El Chapo. I can only imagine the fear that had been built up inside of him over the years as he was exposed to situations like that. For reasons such as these, the mental make up that Palacio had shaped, helped to form and mold the psychological context of the interview.
Palacio had seen how El Chapo manipulated journalists, etc. into becoming his puppets. He knew that El Chapo had an advantage in the social world of Mexico because he controlled so many of them. When one person has so much influence, change happens. People start to identify who controls what. Palacio understood this and knew he nor anyone that worked with/for him should be associated with El Chapo.
The final context that I wanted to address was the culture aspect of the situation. I wanted to compare American journalism to Mexican journalism. In the beginning of the audio clip, Bob Garfield began by telling a brief synopsis of the Sean Penn experience with El Chapo. As he continued, he identified a key point of American journalism and that is Americans will do anything and everything within their power to get what they want. In this case, we heard the bit of envy displayed because by a journalist who wanted to be the one to have that exclusive interview. To me, just basing my opinion off of the nine minute audio clip I listened to, Mexican journalism seems to be on the opposite side of the spectrum. They didn't want the interview due to the threat of losing their lives. Where as the Americans wanted the opportunity to cross the line and put their life at risk to get valuable information. I'm not sure a newspaper company would stay in business if they weren't printing the top stories, but we can see that the publisher of El Universal in Mexico City was okay with Palacio not pursuing the story.
In conclusion, I wanted to wrap up with some final thoughts I had about the interview and what I will take away with me. I was taught that as a journalist, it is your responsibility to bring the news to the people. Sometimes that would require long days, poor weather and hazardous conditions. When becoming a journalist, you accept and understand this requirement. Yet, as a human, the well-being of yourself and others plays an important role too. So now a journalist is faced with the decision of fulfilling the requirement of being a journalist or making sure that one is out of harms way. If I were to put my self in Raymundo Riva Palacio's shoes, I would have reacted in a very similar manner. To me in this particular incident, knowing my life could very well end, I'd make sure I avoided the situation that would bring that catastrophe upon me. The risks outweigh the reward.
