Grupo Reforma

Last updated
Grupo Reforma
Industry Newspapers
Founded1922;101 years ago (1922)
Founder Rodolfo Junco Voigth
HeadquartersWashington 629 Ote. Monterrey,NL,MX
Key people
Alejandro Junco de la Vega
(President and CEO) Rodolfo Junco de la Vega
(Chairman)
Lázaro Ríos
(Chairman)
Products Reforma
Mural
El Norte
El Sol
Metro
Website reforma.com

Grupo Reforma is the largest printed media company in Mexico and Latin America. It publishes ten daily newspapers in five cities, including the leading newspapers in Mexico's three largest cities: Reforma in Mexico City, El Norte in Monterrey and Mural in Guadalajara. It also publishes the daily Metro in Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Puebla and Toluca, and the afternoon tabloid El Sol in Monterrey. The average daily circulation of all these papers is 1.4 million copies.

Contents

The group also owns the largest content-intensive web sites in Mexico: reforma.com, elnorte.com, and mural.com. It owns the largest newswire service with Mexican information, Agencia Reforma. It publishes city specific editions of Metro, a prominent tabloid in the country. Cancha, a tabloid with Mexican sports and entertainment news, is published biweekly in Las Vegas in partnership with The Las Vegas Review-Journal . Grupo Reforma also has strategic alliances with leading US dailies to publish their information in its papers, including a daily section of The Wall Street Journal and a weekly section of The New York Times .

History

The Grupo Reforma headquarters in Mexico City Grupo Reforma at Mexico City.jpg
The Grupo Reforma headquarters in Mexico City

Grupo Reforma was created by Alejandro Junco de la Vega and Rodolfo Junco Jr. from the merger of two companies, Editora el Sol S.A. and Ediciones del Norte S.A. The newsgroup was started with the founding of El Sol in April 1922, followed by El Norte in 1938, Monterrey's Metro in 1988, Reforma in 1993, Palabra and Mexico City's Metro in 1997, Mural in 1998, Saltillo's Metro in 2004 and Guadalajara's Metro in 2005.

Reforma was an offshoot of El Norte, the noted Monterrey-based daily. Grupo Reforma was the first newsgroup in Mexico to separate its commercial division from its journalism division. This allows for a greater independence, and helps journalists resist the temptation of writing articles favorable to sponsors.

When it was founded on November 20, the newspaper pressured unionized newsstands to sell the paper that day. Since November 20 is the Día de la Revolución (Day of the Revolution), an obligatory public holiday in México, the unions refused, so Reforma was sold on the streets by journalists and celebrities as a protest against what they considered "a boycott". Reforma changed the traditional distribution of newspapers with its independence from the unionized newsstands and printed media resellers. It also was innovative because of the inclusion of people of all political opinions in its editorial pages.

Grupo Reforma's independent journalism drew the ire of the powerful Mexico City carrier union barely a year after it was born. This syndicate controls distribution of all newspapers in the capital city and was traditionally used by the political system to bring down any paper that was deemed unacceptable. The carrier union boycotted the distribution of Reforma in Mexico City in October 1994. Grupo Reforma decided to create an independent distribution channel to sell Reforma on the city streets. The support of the readers was incredible: intellectuals, artists and regular folks joined Reforma's personnel in the process of creating this channel. Dozens of people took to the streets to sell the paper, despite the verbal and even physical violence of the carrier union. Currently, Reforma is distributed independently to the homes of 85,000 subscribers, to supermarkets and other retail outlets and to readers in Mexico city's streets. The paper's daily circulation averages 200,000.

Grupo Reforma's dailies have an open journalism model that is very different from any newspaper in the world. One of the cornerstones of this model is the editorial board. Each section of every paper has an editorial board composed of readers and leaders in the section's area of interest who get together weekly or bi-monthly to set the section's editorial agenda. For example, the editorial board of Reforma's national section may include a diputado (member of house of representatives), a senator, several politicians, some members of non-governmental organizations, as well as regular readers. The boards have complete liberty of action in setting what is covered. The board is led by each section's editor, the person who is directly responsible for the daily operation of the section.

Each board session is divided in two parts. First, the board members critique the content published in the section since the last time they met. What was done right? What needs to be corrected? What was plainly wrong? These and other similar topics are covered. Second, the discussion centers on the work ahead. What stories should the section be working on? Who should the paper be interviewing? Are there any events that should be covered? It is in this part of the meeting that the editorial agenda is defined.

Each year, 850 people make up the 70 editorial boards that define the editorial agenda for all of Grupo Reforma's papers. More than eight thousand people have been members of an editorial board during the 15 years that they have been in operation. Participation is voluntary, so no payment is given. The boards are revamped each year, but a couple of members are chosen to stay on to deal with any unfinished work in progress. Every quarter, the editor gives his/her board a balance[ clarification needed ] of all the suggestions they have provided and how they have been implemented in the section.

Criticism

The journalism model of Grupo Reforma has drawn many attacks, both verbal and physical, from politicians and other powerful groups whose interests have been affected by the stories during its 85-year tenure.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tabloid (newspaper format)</span> Type of newspaper

A tabloid is a newspaper with a compact page size smaller than broadsheet. There is no standard size for this newspaper format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metro International</span> Swedish media company, publisher of the Metro newspapers

Metro International is a Swedish global media company based in Luxembourg that publishes the Metro newspapers. Metro International's advertising sales have grown at a compound annual growth rate of 41 percent since launch of the first newspaper edition in 1995. It is a freesheet, meaning that distribution is free, with revenues thus generated entirely through advertising. This newspaper is primarily intended for commuters who move daily in and out of big cities' business areas, mainly during rush hours.

El Universal is a Mexican newspaper based in Mexico City.

Reforma is a Mexican newspaper based in Mexico City. It has 276,700 readers in Mexico City. The paper shares content with other papers in its parent newsgroup Grupo Reforma. Reforma is named after the Mexico City avenue of the same name, Paseo de la Reforma, which is in turn named after "La Reforma", a series of liberal reforms undertaken by the country in the mid-19th century.

Francisco "Paco" Calderón is a Mexican political cartoonist. He currently draws for the newspapers that belong to the Grupo Reforma.

<i>Albuquerque Journal</i> Daily newspaper in Albuquerque, New Mexico

The Albuquerque Journal is the largest newspaper in the U.S. state of New Mexico.

El Sol is a Spanish phrase meaning "the sun". It may refer to:

<span title="Spanish-language text"><i lang="es">Tianguis</i></span> Central American open-air market

A tianguis is an open-air market or bazaar that is traditionally held on certain market days in a town or city neighborhood in Mexico and Central America. This bazaar tradition has its roots well into the pre-Hispanic period and continues in many cases essentially unchanged into the present day. The word tianguis comes from tiyānquiztli or tianquiztli in Classical Nahuatl, the language of the Aztec Empire. In rural areas, many traditional types of merchandise are still sold, such as agriculture supplies and products as well as modern, mass-produced goods. In the cities, mass-produced goods are mostly sold, but the organization of tianguis events is mostly the same. There are also specialty tianguis events for holidays such as Christmas as well as for particular types of items such as cars or art.

<i>Soba</i> (film) 2004 film by Alan Coton

Soba is a 2004 independent drama/crime film and the directional debut from Mexican filmmaker Alan Coton, who also wrote the script. It stars newcomer Claudia Soberón and Dagoberto Gama.

Organización Editorial Mexicana, also known as OEM, is the largest Mexican print media company and the largest newspaper company in Latin America. The company owns a large newswire service, it includes 70 Mexican daily newspapers, 24 radio stations and 44 websites.

Milenio is a major national newspaper in Mexico, owned by Grupo Multimedios.

El Correo is a leading daily newspaper in Bilbao and the Basque Country of northern Spain. It is among best-selling general interest newspapers in Spain.

<i>Alamogordo Daily News</i>

Alamogordo Daily News, founded in 1898, is a daily newspaper published in Alamogordo, New Mexico, United States. It carries local news as well as syndicated content from Associated Press and others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alejandro Junco de la Vega</span> Mexican newspaper publisher

Alejandro Junco de la Vega is a Mexican journalist and newspaper publisher known for developing one of the largest and most powerful newspaper consortiums in Latin America. Junco is an outspoken advocate for journalistic integrity and has actively campaigned since the 1970s to reform journalism, strengthen press freedom, and promote public information laws in Mexico.

El Norte is a daily newspaper printed and distributed in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Álvaro Cueva</span>

Álvaro Cueva is a Mexican television critic and journalist who works in print, television and radio. When he began his career in the 1980s, Mexican newspapers were not interested in columns about television and he began writing about cinema. However, he eventually convinced newspapers to let him write about television, at first under a pseudonym. He briefly left writing when offered a co anchor position on the television show Ventaneando in 1997; however, he did not like the gossip aspect of the show and in the same year left, broke and in poor health. He returned to writing as a freelancer, writing columns and books which eventually led to steady work with the Milenio newspaper, which he still writes a daily column for. Professionally he has written over 3,000 articles in over thirty newspapers and magazines and still appears on television and does regular appearances on radio shows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilberto García Mena</span> Mexican drug lord

Gilberto García Mena, also known as El June, is a Mexican convicted drug lord and former high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico. He began his criminal career as a small-time marijuana smuggler in his teens, and later joined the Gulf Cartel under kingpin Juan García Ábrego. García Mena was arrested by U.S. authorities in Texas while possessing marijuana in 1984, but was released without a conviction. He returned to Mexico, and established a center of operations in Nuevo León. García Mena was arrested on drug-trafficking charges in 1989, but authorities were again unable to convict him. Released in 1990, he rejoined the Gulf Cartel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Víctor Manuel Vázquez Mireles</span> Mexican drug lord

Víctor Manuel Vázquez Mireles is a Mexican drug lord and high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico. Vázquez Mireles joined the cartel during the 1990s and was a trusted enforcer of former kingpin Osiel Cárdenas Guillén. He started his career in the cartel as one of his bodyguards and was eventually placed in charge of operations in Tamaulipas and Veracruz. He was reportedly responsible for supervising the purchase of drugs intended to be smuggled into the U.S. for distribution and for arranging the assistance of corrupt law enforcement officials in the cartel's operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edelio López Falcón</span> Mexican drug lord

Edelio López Falcón, commonly referred to as El Yeyo, was a Mexican suspected drug lord and former high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico. Prior to his involvement in drug trafficking, López Falcón owned a flower business in Miguel Alemán. He was part of the cartel during the 1990s and was a trusted enforcer of the former kingpin Gilberto García Mena. López Falcón's role in the cartel was managing drug shipments from Tamaulipas to the United States. Security forces believed López Falcón was not a violent crime boss; he preferred to indulge in his personal interests, which included promoting music and entertainment, managing his restaurant chains, and running his horse-breeding business. After joining the cartel, he continued to pose as a legitimate businessman to keep a low profile.

El Heraldo de México is a Mexican national daily newspaper published in Mexico City. Initially founded in 1965, after a 14-year absence of the name, the newspaper was relaunched on May 2, 2017.

References