Mexico’s latest media scandal is the dismissal of popular radio and television host Carmen Aristegui, an incisive journalist who worked for the MVS radio network in the early morning slot. Her removal from the air was confirmed yesterday by Alejandro Vargas Guajardo, president of MVS Radio in a Twitter message reported the political news site Animal Politico.
Aristegui’s exit is linked to a report on the alleged alcoholism of President Felipe Calderon. Aristegui talked about the president’s alleged condition in her programme last week, after a group of congressmen from the leftist Workers Party (PT) hung a banner about the president’s alleged problem, while the Mexican Chamber of Deputies was in session. The chamber canceled the meeting because of the banner, but no other Mexican news outlet mentioned the incident. The banner in question asked rhetorically:
Would you let a drunkard drive your car?
In her news segment, Aristegui not only showed the disturbance in the Chamber of Deputies, but also asked
Does the president or does he not have an alcohol problem?… The presidency should give a clear and formal answer with respect to this
At first the radio network refused to give any details on her sacking, but an avalance of messages on Twitter and Facebook led the network to release an explanation. The official response simply said:
The journalist Carmen Aristegui transcended our ethics code and we have decided to end our contractual relationship
The president’s office also released a statement via its Labour Secretary Javier Lozano, they also said they would enforce their right of reply with the Radio Network MVS sometime this week.
Aristegui is a controversial figure in Mexico. She has been a well known reporter for the last 20 years and the top broadcaster for MVS News for the last two years.
In 2008, she also left W Radio, a national station owned by the Televisa network and the Spanish media consortium Prisa, because of editorial disagreements. Aristegui explained that she left “because of editorial incompatibilities.”
Aristegui is an award winning journalist who has received several Mexican journalism awards and Columbia University’s Maria Moors Cabot Award.
