Media Inquiry Report

EDUC 353
November 17, 2014
Javier Pereyra and Georgina Prez
Crisis in Mxico: AYOTZINAPA

International News Issue

Event causing international headlines: Protests concerning the
disappearance of 43 students from a rural school in Ayotzinapa, Mexico are
causing an outrage and solidarity in Mexico and throughout the world.

The Article
NBCNEWS.COM
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/protests-over-mexicos-inaction-43missing-students-n242126

Protests over Mexicos inaction on 43 missing students

In late September, 43 college students from a rural school in
Ayotzinapa, Mexico dedicated to training teachers disappeared. They were
taken by the countrys same government police and now, 40 days later,
family members of the students and Mexican citizens are demanding justice.
The family members of these 43 students had a talk with the president
seeking for his help to find the disappeared. After a weak response, protests
began. "They took them away alive, and alive we want them back." The
article is obviously on the side of the Mexican citizens and seeking justice. I
concluded this because of some of the claims the author makes: the mayor
of the town of Iguala, Guerrero and his wife fled, this seems to the citizens
that the reason they fled is because the ordered the attack on these 43

students. Federal authorities also say that the mayor ran the town in
cooperation with local drug cartels. But is this the whole story? The
government is trying to cover something up because when the families went
to them seeking justice they offered them each $100,000 Mexican Pesos to
stop the protests and keep silence, so this seems a bit odd. The article is
basically blaming the government for this tragedy.

Democracy Now
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/11/13/are_mexicos_missing_students
_the_victims
Counter Punch
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/10/09/mexicos-drug-war-is-killingchildren/
While it is okay to look at this issue through corporate media outlets
such as FoxNews, CNN, Washington Post, New York Times etc. it is also a
great idea to look at the issue through a different perspective such as
through non-corporate, public interest media. Two perspectives that I will
look at is through a article from DemocracyNow.org and CounterPunch.org.
In looking at the article Are Mexicos Missing Students the Victims of
U.S.- Backed Drug War by Democracy Now I believe that the reporters is
attempting to be balance on the issue. The reason for this believe is when
Nermeen Shaikh (2014) one of the reporters states This is Ernesto che

Cano, a first year student at Ayotzinapa teachers college who survived the
police attack. Hes responding to the claim by Attorney General Jesus Murillo
Karam that the students were killed and their bodies burned by a local drug
gang (p. 1). The keyword in the sentence was who survived this two me
tells me that the reporter does care about the people as it was not just some
random protester. This person supposedly lived through what the students
went through.
As with any story is important to get both sides of the story so the
reporting through democracy now does just that. it is clearly seen when Amy
Goodman (another reporter for Democracy Now) does just that when she
includes what Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam said on a interview
made by Carlos Loret De Mola on his comment that angered many people.
Another source that I would like to look at regarding the same is from
counterpunch.org. From reading the article Mexicos Drug War is Killing
Children I believe that the author Laura Carlsen is on the side of the people
and the victims. There are two main reasons in why I believe that this is so.
The first reason why is because Laura Cara goes into the background
into the corruption in mexico. She mentions that this is not the first time in
which something such as this issue comes up. This is clearly evident when
laura Carlsen (2014) States This latest massacre followed the massacre of
22 young people in Tlatlaya, Mexico State, on 30 June in what was originally
said to be a confrontation between the 102nd army battalion and a local

gang (p. 2). something that was interesting in the both of the articles is
that each of the two articles the main blame that authorities gave was
gangs.
The last reason that I want to mention is that Laura Carlsen gives
more detailed background and space about the students that were the
victims. One quote that I thought was interesting was when Carlson (2014)
writes Mexicos young people have been targeted by the very people who
are supposed to protect them at a moment in national history when their
future is at stake (p. 2). Students are portrayed in the article as the
victims (which they are) and the people people that would make the area a
better place to live in by providing education to children.

Comparative Analysis
All these articles focus on the same issue but from different
standpoints. Beginning with the titles, the article from FOX is Protests over
Mexicos inaction on 43 missing students and the article from
counterpunch.org is Mexicos drug war is killing children. You can easily get
a different impression of each from just reading the title. The emphasis on
the drug cartels and drug wars is given more importance in the nonprofit
articles. It is as if the tragedy is directly connected to the drug war in
Mexico, and the article from fox is emphasizing the political involvement in
the tragedy. The article from the nonprofit media also gives clear evidence

of the events happened because it is in an interview format and the two

students who were interviewed are actually witnesses and survivors of the
event. The nonprofit article from counterpunch.org also gives a lot more
detail and background information of the students and the school were they
came from, their social status, area of study etc.

References

Carlsen, L. (2014, October 9th). Mexicos Drug war is killing Children.

Retrieved From: http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/10/09/mexicos-drugwar-is-killing-children/

GoodMan, A., & Gonzalez, J, (2014, Nov. 13th ) Are Mexicos Missing
Students the Victims of U.S.- Backed Drug War. Retrieved From:
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/11/13/are_mexicos_missing
_students_the_victims

Gutierrez, Gabe (2014, October Nov. 5th) Protests Over Mexicos

Inaction on 42 missing students. Retrieved from:
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/protests-over-mexicos-inaction-43missing-students-n242126