Mexico News returns Oct. 1, five years after closing
By Bob Kelly
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CEO John Moody |
| Top Row L to R Felipe Vilá, Partner; Victor Hugo O’Farrill Toscano, Partner; Ernesto Jimenez, Partner Bottom Row L to R |
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The Mexico News will return Oct. 1 with a new product aimed at becoming the country’s nationwide English daily newspaper five years after the original version ended a 52-year run.
The new News will concentrate on selling its initial 7,000 copies for 10 pesos in the Mexico City area, and it also will be available here in the Jardín. Plans are to circulate in other cities with English-speaking communities within a year as soon as distributors can be signed up, said chief executive officer John Moody.
The new News will be a 32-page, four-color tabloid that will concentrate more on local and Mexico news than its predecessor, which reportedly had a peak circulation of more than 17,000. Although it was light on advertising when it folded in 2002, the paper was making money but was subsidizing its sister publication, Novedades, Moody said. The legal relationship of the two papers was so tight that it was impossible to fold only one of them so both were suspended, he added.
Four other publications have failed to succeed in a country with a large base of English-speaking foreigners in addition to Mexicans also fluent in the language. The most recent was the Mexico edition of the Miami Herald, published in joint venture with El Universal. The Herald tried to fill the gap left by the News’ departure in 2002 and put out an attractive and informative eight-page Mexico insert in a larger paper whose content was taken from the Miami edition. The Mexico Herald called it quits last May after failing to attract advertisers because, former Herald staffers said, the El Universal advertising department didn’t promote the paper.
In the 1980s, a group of News staff members started The Mexico Journal, published by the Spanish-language daily newspaper La Jornada. but couldn’t sell enough advertising to continue.
The Mexico Times was published intermittently, first appearing in the mid-1960s and resurfacing from 1995 to 1999. It had little original content and the owners were more interested in paying themselves dividends than reinvesting the profits, according to press veterans.
In 2001, the Dallas Morning News launched its Express edition, which had a short run as a five-day-a-week eight-page paper, printed in color, that focused on business news and was targeted to businessmen and diplomats as well as tourists.
The new News appears to have gotten the message. “I’ve always been amazed that newspapers haven’t survived in Mexico, where the potential is so strong,” said Moody, who has worked the last 13 years as a journalist in Mexico City. “One of the reasons is that they didn’t pay enough attention to advertising. You just can’t put out an English-language paper and hope the advertisers come to you. The News will have a professional marketing team that understands how the media market works, how businesses buy ads and what agencies they buy them from,” Moody added.
“We have spent a lot of time researching what a paper has to be to succeed in our market,” Moody said. “We will be a Mexican newspaper, founded by people with a deep and intimate knowledge of how business works in Mexico, with knowledge of how journalism works worldwide, and we are a stand-alone company with one purpose—how to serve the community while building a sustainable and profitable business.”
Selling advertising is not the only challenge the News faces. Another is how to appeal to enough readers around the country to make it attractive to advertisers and distributors, given the declining readership of US dailies. While good current numbers are hard to come by, Moody believes there are about 1.5 million foreigners in Mexico at any one time including working residents, retirees and tourists. This total includes up to 20,000 foreigners who have gotten the newspaper habit as readers in towns served by English-language weeklies, such as Atención, the Guadalajara Reporter, the Oaxaca Times and publications around Lake Chapala, Puerto Vallarta and the Baja.
Also encouraging to Moody are the baby boomers who just now are reaching retirement age and have begun heading for Mexico in large numbers, especially in the Baja. There are an estimated 76 million between the ages of 42 and 60 and Mexico rates near the top as a preferred destination for those planning to move. Most of the boomers don’t or won’t speak Spanish and will be potential readers of the News, he added.
The conventional wisdom that newspapers are on their way out is exaggerated, he said. “The newspaper industry is changing and the only growth you’re seeing in newspapers worldwide is in local newspapers. The News is doing something that no others newspaper is doing and that is providing comprehensive coverage of living, politics, business and work in Mexico.”
Rather than sharing the concern that the Internet is the biggest threat to newspapers, Moody sees it as an opportunity. “In terms of coverage of Mexico, our website, in time, will be the premier portal for current affairs in English,” he said.
Formerly a freelance journalist in London, Moody moved to Mexico, where his parents were living, 13 years ago. He landed a job at the old News, then moved to Knight-Ridder Financial News and later joined the Bloomberg financial news service before returning to freelancing, with his work appearing in the New York Times, Time magazine and other outlets. Moody is a frequent visitor to San Miguel, where his parents now live.
Moody said the paper has assembled a news staff composed of seasoned journalists, many of whom worked for the old News and the Herald, and several who are new faces. One of the veterans is the editor, Tom Buckley, a journalist in Mexico for 14 years. After graduating from Notre Dame, Buckley received a master’s degree in Mexican history and sociology from the University of Texas in Austin in 1993. He spent four stints at the former News, two of them as managing editor and eight months as interim editor and was associate editor at the Herald.
Others on the staff include managing editor Jonathan Clark, who was managing editor at the Herald from 2004-2006 and most recently a reporter along the Arizona-Mexico border for the Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Daily Review; national/international editor Malcolm Beith, who had been general editor at Newsweek International, after serving as a reporter in the magazine’s London bureau; finance editor Morris Thompson, who started his career with The Wall Street Journal in Chicago in 1975 and has since worked for several major US dailies, and has been both a Pulitzer Prize nominee and juror, and senior copy editor Cynthia Hawes, formerly editor-in-chief of the Mexico Herald and editor-in-chief for the website of the former News.
The ownership also is a mixture of the old and the new. They include Victor Hugo Sr., board chairman, and Victor Hugo Jr., son and grandson of the late Romulo O’Farrill Jr., a founder of the News in 1950, and two newcomers, banker Felipe Vila, director of Casa de Bolsa HSBC, and Mexico City businessman Ernesto Jiminez.
The new ownership has guaranteed editorial independence, Moody said. Under Romulo O’Farrill, the News was criticized for banning coverage of issues such as abortion, homosexuality and political dissent that would offend his conservative friends and allies in business and government. “I haven’t been told in any way how we are supposed to cover the news. We will cover the Catholic church, homosexual issues and everything that affects the country and the foreign community.”
Moody also sees the News serving to educate foreigners. As an ex-pat himself, Moody says, he has sensed the “distance and the isolation of ex-pats living in countries like Mexico. They live here but don’t seem to be part of society in some ways. I think telling people more about Mexico and involving them more in reflecting about where they live, what they’re doing and what they can do is something many of them will appreciate.”
The continued involvement of the O’Farrill family also maintains continuity with a part of Mexican history not known to most foreigners. In 1846, Stephen O’Farrill joined the great potato famine exodus from Ireland. Landing in New York, he faced being drafted in the army to fight against Mexico. Instead, he became part of a contingent of Irish immigrants that accepted Mexico’s offer of citizenship and land by joining the Mexican army. After the war, he settled on land granted to him in Puebla.
One of O’Farrill’s four sons, Romulo Sr., started a family business empire that included banks, national newspapers, radio stations and other businesses. One of their coups was receiving the concession for the first commercial television station from the government, which went on the air in 1950. The station grew into Telesistema Mexicano, later renamed Televisa, which Rómulo O'Farrill Jr. first managed and eventually headed as chairman of the board. Televisa became the largest Spanish broadcasting system in the world.
Bob Kelly started writing for newspapers his home town. He worked on papers in several other cities before joining the Chicago Sun-Times, where he became a business writer and automotive editor.
Olivia Ortiz
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Little 11-year-old Olivia Ortiz won first place at the end of the summer show-jumping season for the highly competitive Querétaro Circuit in the "pre-infantil" category. She trains with Manuel Tejeda at Rancho Tejeda. Here she poses on her thoroughbred "Elegido Naciente" at the awards ceremony at Club Campestre Querétaro. |
Atenciòn remembers
Compiled by Atenciòn Staff
It’s always nice to take a little peek back, to remember when arrivals and changes of address were noted in Did you know?, houses in centro could be had for less than US$100,000, and the air quality was an incentive to life in San Miguel.
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10 years ago… Sept 15, 1997—The front page was reporting on Telmex’s plan to install 1,000 new phone lines in San Miguel. Some of those lines were planned for business use, but the majority were reserved for the growing backlog of requests for residential phone lines. |
The Letters to the Editor were buzzing with comments regarding the recently buried power and telephone lines in el centro. There was much talk about many locals’ desires to retake all their wire-filled photos of the Parroquia façade.
The San Miguel Playreaders were presenting The Orphans at St. Paul’s Parish Hall.
In Real Estate… A 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom house with Jacuzzi, fireplace, boveda ceilings, patios, fully-furnished was on the market for US$132,000.
| 15 years ago… Sept 11, 1992—The academic programs at Centro de Crecimiento remained closed because of salary disputes between the teachers and the board. Teachers and staff were asking for commitments to raise salaries each time the Federal Government raised salaries for Federal teachers. The newly renovated center would open on schedule, but the school schedule was undetermined. | |
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Fiestas Patrias celebrations were ramping up, with local festivities focusing on San Miguel’s coinciding 450th anniversary.
XESQ Radio San Miguel celebrated its 21st birthday.
Bellas Artes celebrated its 30th anniversary with 20 artists, past and present, from San Miguel showing their work.
Casa Sierra Nevada hosted a vinter’s dinner with Monte Xanic Vineyard. On the menu were almond soft-shell crab, crusted eight-spice salmon and Valrhona chocolate terrine. Tickets were 155,000 pesos.
There was a Clinton/Gore rally at 10:30am on Sept 19, Hidalgo 12.
In Real Estate… A 3 bedroom, 3.5-bathroom house, with garage and lovely colonial details, in Guadiana was on the market for US$149,000.
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20 years ago… Sept 11, 1987—The Independence issue, featuring a cover article by Ray Cassidy detailing the history of El Grito, sold for 200 pesos. |
“Did you know?” was letting all sanmiguelenses know the Aronins from New York City would be returning to San Miguel on Sept 18 and that Florence Johnson was off on another lengthy journey—this time to all of the British Isles.
The question of the week by the Inquiring Reporter asked, “What is the best and worst thing about being in San Miguel?” From Chelo, Mexican pharmacist, “The best is that San Miguel has it all, with respect to climate, people, air quality—and it is a happy town. The worst is to find a person able to fix something, and then have him do it before ‘mañana.’ ”
In the Clasificados… FOR SALE, one airline ticket Japanair flight direct from Mexico City to Vancouver, non-stop US$150 or best offer. Contact Kim Baxter, leave message at Instituto Allende.
In Real Estate… Great location: Chorro Street, located in top neighborhood; living room w/ terraces, views, kitchen, 2 B/R, garage, separate guest house, US$90,000.
With a little help from friends
By Larry Castriotta and Jean Gerber
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Casita Linda has had a fantastic summer, due in part to the success of the Doug Robinson Plays Well With Others benefit held this past July. Casita Linda is an organization that builds homes in the campo for extremely poor families. |
These families are often living in huts that are no more than
bamboo walls, dirt floors and anything they can find for a roof. Doors and windows are nothing more than towels or blankets.
| We are completing construction of the fourth house in the village of Guerrero, on the far side of the Presa Allende. This area has a water supply of very poor quality—the fluoride level is one of the highest in San Miguel. | |
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Excess fluoride rots teeth, stalls bone development in children and in adults can cause brittleness. Fluoride also can decrease brain function. All the water is recovered by lowering buckets into a community well and carrying them back to their homes.
The volunteers got together and unanimously agreed that in addition to building the casitas, we needed to try to do something about the water supply to really make a difference in people’s lives. First, we constructed a 30-foot high water tower over the well so that water can be piped directly to the houses. The pump bringing up the water from the well runs on solar power, so there will be no electrical costs for the families. Now we are conducting extensive research and hope to find an efficient, cost-effective filter that will reduce the amount of fluoride in their drinking water.
We build 12- by 14-foot houses with poured-concrete floors, walls and roof. Each has a metal door, a glass window, a sink, electricity and a shower with hot water. As the design of the house continues to evolve, we will soon increase the size of the house by about 30 square feet. We are now building bunk beds, as many of the families have six to eight children. We also will be testing a “dry toilet” in one of the next houses.
The houses are built almost entirely by volunteers working on Wednesdays and Saturdays for five to seven hours per day. Our goal is to build a house in nine work sessions. We haven’t gotten there yet, but we are working on it. We provide all this for a cost of US$1,500 per house.
Although the work sessions are quite enjoyable, physical demands vary widely from strenuous when we are mixing concrete to easy when we are painting. In addition to meeting fellow volunteers, there is a lot of interaction with the families in the community. For more information or to volunteer, contact
jean@casitalinda.org or marthacastriotta@yahoo.com
Jean Gerber is the Executive Director of Casita Linda. Larry Castriotta is a Casita Linda volunteer, a member of Midday Rotary and a principal of Select Real Estate.
Mujeres en cambio; in search of independence
Luncheon
Mujeres en Cambio Luncheon
Thurs, Sept 27, 2–4 pm
The Party Pavilion at Patsy’s Place
200 pesos, for sale at Casa de Papel
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Mujeres en Cambio provides scholarships to more than 150 young women recommended by their school principals from the ranchos around San Miguel. To maintain their scholarships, students must maintain good grades (the grade average of our students is 9.5). High school students receive approximately US$275 per annum. |
Many of the students graduate from high school and continue on to college, technical school or university. The organization supports these students with a larger annual scholarship of approximately US$1,000.
Mujeres en Cambio is an entirely volunteer-run organization, funded by the generosity of its supporters to raise the US$75,000 needed each year to operate the program. The monthly luncheon is but one its regular fundraising events.
One of the characteristics that distinguishes the young women receiving Mujeres en Cambio scholarships is independence. They show independence of spirit by daring to dream of a better future through education. They display independence of character by visualizing a different kind of life from that of their friends, parents or siblings. They display independence of thought and action by committing themselves to obtaining a superior education. Their goal is to increase their eventual level of independence beyond that of the typical young woman, both intellectually and financially.
For example, we recently followed up on a student, Aricela, who had not been collecting her scholarship. Her teacher told us that Aricela was still attending school and still getting excellent grades. We also learned that her father had found work and that the family wanted another student to have the chance that had been given to Aricela. Now that’s independence!
On September 27 Patsy Dubois hosts the lunch at her beautiful country property near Atotonilco. Lunch will be served in the brand new “Party Pavilion at Patsy’s Place” which will be decked out in Independence Day colors. Menu items include chiles en nogada accompanied by an array of vegetables and salads. Dessert and coffee will also be served, and there will be a cash bar with soft drinks, beer, wine and margaritas.
Patsy, repeating her incredible generosity of last year, will donate 100 percent of ticket and bar sales to our scholarship fund.
Come along, enjoy great company (men and women both welcome!) and beautiful surroundings, and learn more about Mujeres en Cambio activities.
Tickets are 200 pesos and are on sale now at Casa de Papel, Mesones 57A (the China Palace Building). Please note that entry to the lunch is by advance purchase ticket. There are only 100 tickets and they always sell out quickly. Remember, no tickets will be sold on the day of the event.
To keep our costs low and therefore maximize the benefit of this fund raiser, we will be carpooling to and from Patsy’s Place. Those needing a ride should be at Calle Cardo, opposite St Paul’s church, at 1:10pm on September 27. Those offering a ride should be there between 1:15pm and 1:25pm to pick up passengers. If you can help with car pooling please let us know when you purchase your ticket. Directions to Patsy’s Place are printed on the back of the tickets; you may also ask for a map when you purchase your ticket.
For more information, visit our website, mujeresencambio.com or call Roger at 154-6552. (Note that no reservations can be taken). Take a sneak peak at why this trip to Patsy’s Place will be a very special experience by visiting patsydubois.com.
Lecture
Legalities and Realities of Living…and Dying in San Miguel
Mon, Sept 24, 5 pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
50 pesos
By popular demand, Hospice San Miguel will again present an informative program dealing with medical, legal, electronic and financial issues to plan for in the event of a serious illness or death. A question and answer period will follow the presentation.
The mission of Hospice San Miguel is to enhance the quality of life of individuals with life-limiting illness and support their families through the management of physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs. The hospice helps patients remain comfortable, alert and able to participate in life as fully as possible until death occurs naturally and peacefully. Hospice San Miguel affirms life and regards dying as a normal process and neither hastens nor postpones death.
The office is located in Colonia Lejona at Manuel Rocha 35. For more information, call 154-4287 or visit
www.hospicesma.org.