Zeta (magazine)
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''Zeta'' is a Mexican magazine published every Friday in
Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and
< ...
by Choix Editores. ''Zeta'' is distributed primarily in
Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...
, in the cities of Tijuana, Tecate, Rosarito, Ensenada, and
Mexicali Mexicali (; ) is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California. The city, seat of the Mexicali Municipality, has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the Calexico–Mexicali metropolitan area is home to 1,000,0 ...
. It was founded in 1980 by Jesús Blancornelas, known as "the spiritual godfather of modern Mexican journalism", along with Héctor Félix Miranda and Francisco Ortiz Franco. The magazine regularly runs exposés on corruption in local and federal governments as well as on organized crime and drug trafficking, resulting in numerous threats and attacks against its staff. Félix was murdered in 1988 by bodyguards of politician Jorge Hank Rhon, while Ortiz was assassinated in 2004, apparently for his coverage of the
Tijuana Cartel The Tijuana Cartel (Spanish: ''Cártel de Tijuana'') or Arellano-Félix-Organization (Spanish: ''Organización Arellano Félix'', AFO) is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Founded by the Arellano-Félix family, the ...
. Blancornelas was also ambushed by gunmen in 1997; though one of his bodyguards was killed, Blancornelas managed to survive his wounds. Following Blancornelas's death of stomach cancer in 2006, Adela Navarro Bello became ''Zeta'''s editor-in-chief. Both Blancornelas and Navarro received numerous international awards for their work with the magazine. More than half of the journalists working for the ''Zeta'' report on sport events, entertainment, and art, but the front-page stories on the newspaper are about drug trafficking and political corruption. Since its creation, the newspaper chronicled the rise and workings of the
Tijuana Cartel The Tijuana Cartel (Spanish: ''Cártel de Tijuana'') or Arellano-Félix-Organization (Spanish: ''Organización Arellano Félix'', AFO) is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Founded by the Arellano-Félix family, the ...
, one of Mexico's oldest drug trafficking organizations.


Early history

In 1977, Jesús Blancornelas founded the independent newspaper ''ABC''. The paper employed future ''Zeta'' co-founder Héctor Félix Miranda, then a columnist who wrote under "Félix el Gato" ("Felix the Cat") to criticize local politicians. These columns eventually angered Baja California's state government and Mexico's former President
José López Portillo José Guillermo Abel López Portillo y Pacheco (; 16 June 1920 – 17 February 2004) was a Mexican writer, lawyer and politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as the 58th president of Mexico from 1976 t ...
to the point that the government ordered Blancornelas to fire Miranda and banned its distribution. When Blancornelas refused, a SWAT team was sent to take over the paper's offices on the pretext of settling a labor dispute. Blancornelas escaped to the United States, resettling in
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
,
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. In 1980, Blancornelas re-surfaced with the weekly publication ''Zeta'', which he co-founded with Félix. The magazine printed copies in the United States and then smuggled them across the border into Mexico. After some years, they reestablished themselves in Tijuana. Through the magazine, the pair continued their investigation into organized crime and corruption. The magazine ran a cover story in 1985 about local police guarding a marijuana-filled warehouse; the story was the first to report on the future leaders of the
Tijuana Cartel The Tijuana Cartel (Spanish: ''Cártel de Tijuana'') or Arellano-Félix-Organization (Spanish: ''Organización Arellano Félix'', AFO) is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Founded by the Arellano-Félix family, the ...
, the Arellano Félix brothers. After Blancornelas discovered that plainclothes police officers had bought all 20,000 copies of the issue, ''Zeta'' republished the issue under the headline "Censored!" In 1987, the ''Zeta'' magazine lived an attack, when two men in a brown Toyota pick-up truck opened fire at the installations one morning. In 1994, ''Zeta'' published an investigation on the assassination of
Luis Donaldo Colosio Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta (; 10 February 1950 – 23 March 1994) was a Mexican politician, economist, and Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) presidential candidate, who was assassinated at a campaign rally in Tijuana during the Mexic ...
; despite the conspiracy theories about the case, the magazine concluded that the shooting had been the work of a single troubled individual.


Héctor Félix Miranda murder

As well as acting as an editor, Héctor Félix Miranda contributed a column titled "A Little of Something", in which he satirized and criticized government officials, particularly those of the long-ruling
Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party ( es, Partido Revolucionario Institucional, ; abbr. PRI) is a political party in Mexico that was founded in 1929 and held uninterrupted power in the country for 71 years, from 1929 to 2000, first as the Nati ...
(PRI). He particularly targeted Jorge Hank Rhon, son of a former
Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...
mayor and the owner of a Tijuana racetrack. Félix was killed by multiple shotgun blasts in 1988. Two guards from Hank Rhon's
Agua Caliente Racetrack Agua means water in Spanish. Agua may also refer to: Places * ''Agua de Dios'' (God's water), a municipality in Colombia * Volcán de Agua, a stratovolcano located in Guatemala Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Agua'' (film), a 2006 Argentin ...
were later convicted of the murder. For the next eighteen years, Blancornelas left Félix's name on the ''Zeta'' masthead, marked with a black cross. He also published a full-page ad in every issue under Félix's "byline", asking Hank Rhon why Félix had been murdered.


Blancornelas assassination attempt

In 1997 in Tijuana, Blancornelas was ambushed and wounded by gunmen of the
Tijuana Cartel The Tijuana Cartel (Spanish: ''Cártel de Tijuana'') or Arellano-Félix-Organization (Spanish: ''Organización Arellano Félix'', AFO) is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Founded by the Arellano-Félix family, the ...
after he published a photo of the drug lord Ramón Arellano Félix. Blancornelas was nearly killed when the attackers opened fire on his car, wounding him in the abdomen and killing his driver and bodyguard, Luis Valero Elizalde, who died protecting him and managed to kill one of the shooters. Blancornelas suffered complications from the injury for the rest of his life. In the attack, Blancornelas' car was hit more than 180 times, but only four bullets penetrated the journalist's body. Valero, however, was hit 38 times. The nature of Blancornelas' work forced him to live under a "self-imposed home arrest," only traveling to his workplace and home with multiple Special Forces bodyguards from the
Mexican Army The Mexican Army ( es, Ejército Mexicano) is the combined land and air branch and is the largest part of the Mexican Armed Forces; it is also known as the National Defense Army. The Army is under the authority of the Secretariat of National ...
, who accompanied him everywhere. While previous attacks on journalists had received little coverage, Blancornelas' assassination attempt made it to the front page of most newspapers in Mexico, and was covered on television and radio. The attempt also fueled international attention, as the ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'', ''
San Diego Union Tribune ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...
'', and
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
covered it extensively. Due to the public outcry, the Mexican authorities decided to report the attack to the Office of the General Prosecutor, which had greater resources than the state authorities. After Blancornelas recovered from his wounds, he returned to publishing for the ''Zeta'' magazine. The Blancornelas family erected a huge brick wall in their one-story house to increase their security measures; outside the house, a squadron of military men guarded the family, while some others protected the ''Zeta'' offices. As of 1998, the top editors of the newspaper, along with Blancornelas' three sons, were under guard by the authorities at all times.


Francisco Ortiz Franco murder

In 2004, Francisco Ortiz Franco—a ''Zeta'' cofounder and contributing editor who specialized in legal issues—began to write about drug trafficking. At around this time, Blancornelas wanted to remove bylines from ''Zeta'''s most dangerous stories, but was persuaded not to by Ortiz, who wished his to continue to run. On June 22, 2004, Ortiz was shot three times at the wheel of his car by masked gunmen in a
drive-by shooting A drive-by shooting is a type of assault that usually involves the perpetrator(s) firing a weapon from within a motor vehicle and then fleeing. Drive-by shootings allow the perpetrator(s) to quickly strike their target and flee the scene before ...
, in full view of his son and daughter (aged 9 and 11). Federal prosecutors later linked the murder to the
Tijuana Cartel The Tijuana Cartel (Spanish: ''Cártel de Tijuana'') or Arellano-Félix-Organization (Spanish: ''Organización Arellano Félix'', AFO) is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Founded by the Arellano-Félix family, the ...
of the Arellano Félix family, with Ortiz's coverage of the organization as the probable motive. In April 2011, ''Zeta'''s new editor Adela Navarro Bello ran a front-page story stating that the newspaper had learned from cartel enforcer Luis Alberto Salazar Vega that cartel head Javier Arellano Félix had personally ordered the murder after Ortiz had published photographs of the organization's members.


Navarro Bello directorship

Prior his death from cancer in 2006, Blancornelas, disheartened by the deaths of his co-founders and beginning to doubt ''Zeta'''s ability to foster change, considered closing the magazine with his death. Editor Adela Navarro Bello and his son César René Blanco Villalón persuaded him to let the magazine continue, however, and succeeded him as the magazine's co-publishers. As the magazine's new director, Navarro continued Blancornelas' tradition of high-risk reporting on organized crime, stating that "Every time a journalist self-censors, the whole society loses". She oversaw an investigation of Hank Rhon, whose guards had murdered Félix Miranda, and following Hank's arrest in 2011 on illegal weapons charges, the magazine published the details and serial numbers of the 88 guns found in his home. The issue sold out, and the number of page views caused the magazine's website to crash. Though Hank was released for lack of evidence, Navarro continued to press for his arrest for involvement in the Félix murder. The magazine also began to publish increasing coverage of corruption allegations against the National Action Party as the party continued to gain power. The magazine was also criticized in 2009 and 2010, however, for being too sympathetic to the
Mexican Army The Mexican Army ( es, Ejército Mexicano) is the combined land and air branch and is the largest part of the Mexican Armed Forces; it is also known as the National Defense Army. The Army is under the authority of the Secretariat of National ...
and failing to cover its alleged human rights abuses; ''Zeta'' named an army general its "person of the year" in each year. In January 2010, US law enforcement notified Navarro of death threats from the
Tijuana Cartel The Tijuana Cartel (Spanish: ''Cártel de Tijuana'') or Arellano-Félix-Organization (Spanish: ''Organización Arellano Félix'', AFO) is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Founded by the Arellano-Félix family, the ...
, causing the Mexican government to assign her seven soldiers as bodyguards. One month later, ten people were arrested for plotting a grenade attack against ''Zeta'''s offices. The ''Zeta'' offices are located in a residential neighborhood in Tijuana, but all of the printing is done in
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
to avoid any reprisals from organized crime, with the printed magazines trucked in across the border. It has a printing circulation of 30,000, but waits up to three days to put its drug trafficking reports online to compel readers to buy the print version. In 2012, the ''Zeta'' is still thriving in Tijuana with its weekly column of "who's who in the underworld of Mexico's Baja California peninsula," and with unique stories of drug traffickers rarely seen anywhere else in the Mexican media. Most media outlets in Mexico limit their reports to government statements and news conferences, while others cover the drug war aggressively. Few of the national media outlets, however, have the intensity and in-depth coverage of the ''Zeta'' magazine.


Awards

Blancornelas won several international awards for his work with ''Zeta'', including the 1996 International Press Freedom Award of the US-based
Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, New York, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journ ...
and the 1999 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. In 2000 he was named one of the Austria-based
International Press Institute International Press Institute (IPI) is a global organisation dedicated to the promotion and protection of press freedom and the improvement of journalism practices. The institution was founded by 34 editors from 15 countries at Columbia University ...
's fifty
World Press Freedom Heroes International Press Institute World Press Freedom Heroes are individuals who have been recognized by the Vienna-based International Press Institute for "significant contributions to the maintenance of press freedom and freedom of expression" and "i ...
of the previous fifty years. Navarro also received the International Press Freedom Award for her work with the magazine in 2007. ''Zeta'' and Blancornelas are profiled in the Bernardo Ruiz documentary ''Reportero''.


References


Bibliography

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External links

*
''Zeta'' online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zeta (Magazine) 1980 establishments in Mexico Magazines established in 1980 Mass media in Tijuana Mass media in Baja California Political magazines published in Mexico News magazines published in South America Spanish-language magazines Weekly magazines