unljnews

By ERIN STARKEBAUM

It’s not easy to be a journalist in Mexico.

Phyllis Larsen (left), Karen Pedersen and Allie Busch visited a school for disabled children in Cozumel to give them craft donations.

That was clear quickly to the 10 students who spent two weeks on the island of Cozumel in late May, studying the media in a developing country.

The students, led by Phyllis Larsen, senior lecturer of advertising, met with Mexican journalists, business owners and residents during the study abroad trip.

The students saw a number of ways Mexican media are different from U.S. media.

Mexican reporters and photographers have to buy their own equipment. Gustavo Villegas, a journalist for Novedades de Quintana Roo newspaper, said journalists pay for cameras, lenses, voice recorders and other tools out of their own pockets.  That can add up quickly for a journalist whose job doesn’t usually even include benefits.

Another difference the students found was that many journalists train on the job rather than studying for their careers first.

Victor Robledo, a journalist for Por Esto newspaper, said most reporters have little professional training. Some choose to take a ferry to the mainland for classes at a college in Cancun since no courses are available on the island, he said, but it is not required.

Credibility is also a problem Mexican journalists face.  Just as credibility for U.S. papers has suffered in recent years, few Mexicans trust what is published in their country’s newspapers. Robledo said no journalistic standards exist in Mexico for things such as story sourcing.

Many residents believe Novedades de Quintana Roo, a statewide newspaper, is the most serious and reliable of all the papers available in Cozumel. Journalists for Novedades can get fired for printing untruthful information, but that is rare at other Mexican newspapers.

Yet no more than 2 percent of Cozumel residents pay the eight pesos it costs to read a reliable newspaper, Villegas said.

Por Esto is the most popular newspaper on the island with the highest circulation because of its broad coverage of news.  Reporters for Por Esto do not have to cite any sources in their stories, though Robledo said he makes it a point to interview at least two people for every story he writes.

Nora Hernandez, the director of social communications for the government in Cozumel, acknowledged that not all papers in Cozumel are accurate.

Many Cozumel residents said De Peso is similar to tabloids found in the United States  and is full of unreliable information. De Peso’s pages are filled with photos of blood-stained accident victims and barely covered women.

And just like in the United States, newspapers aren’t the main source of news for most people.

Island residents Josefina Gonzalez and her son, Geronimo Hernandez, said they get their news from TV because it is the most reliable source. Cozumel has its own station, Channel 5, which broadcasts news three times a day.

Radio is another source of news on the island. Radio licenses are issued by the government based on population size.

Cozumel has a population of 90,000 people, which qualifies it for only one license, the one issued to Sol Sterio, which is both a radio and a TV station. When its two news programs air on the radio, the DJs can be seen on TV, too.

Cozumel residents listen for public news announcements about hurricanes, health alerts like the H1N1 virus or even schedules of cruise ships coming to the island.

Larsen has been taking students to Cozumel to study media since the summer of 2007. She had made many scuba diving trips to the island over the years  and was sure it would make a safe learning environment.

Through Larsen’s extensive network of contacts, the students added a twist to their study abroad experience by completing service learning projects during the trip. “I never expected to do volunteer work on the island, but I’m really glad we got the chance to,” said Allie Busch, a junior advertising major.

Seven of the 10 students worked with local biologists on the island’s turtle salvation program, searching the beaches for sea turtles laying their eggs. They saw one turtle and found three nests. The eggs were counted and moved to safer locations farther from the ocean.

The students worked with Karen Pedersen, a coordinator for volunteering on the island and adviser to Núcleo de Apoyo Familiar (NUAFA). NUAFA is an organization that provides childcare, support programs and job training for families in crisis in Cozumel.

Each UNL student brought an extra suitcase of clothing donations that were sold at a “Gran Bazar” garage sale to raise money for the group. Craft donations were taken to a school for disabled children the UNL students visited. They played a basketball game against a local girls team and had a picnic with students from the island’s University of Quintana Roo.
“Even though we went to study journalism and advertising, our trip was a lot about building relationships because that is so important in this culture,” Larsen said.

The group salsa danced with students from the Spanish English Academy one evening and practiced their cross-cultural communication skills.  Gonzalez, a cooking instructor in Cozumel, even made the students two authentic Mexican dinners during their stay.

Jessica Sorensen, sophomore journalism major, summed it up: “They let us into their homes and let us help them, but really they gave much more to us in return.”