Human Rights Film Festival: Reportero

During the Human Rights Film Festival I saw the film Reportero, which was directed by Bernardo Ruiz. This documentary follows the journalistic life of Sergio Haro and his colleagues at Zeta, a weekly paper based in Tijuana. Because of corruption and danger (granted this is the case in most of Mexico but Tijuana is worse by far) it is very difficult to be a reporter. Rather, it is very difficult to be a good reporter who is willing to write the truth. This idea of the moral responsibility for truth telling is central to the work of Sergio Haro, whose life is in constant threat. Three people have been attacked, resulting with founder Jesus Blancornelas barely surviving and the death of two other main reporters. This documentary illuminates the dangers of living within a “drug war zone”. It shows how the Mexican government has consistently failed to take care of its people and allowed drug lords to govern the country through corruption and impunity. Along with this is the issue of media censorship on the behalf of the government.

This film effectively shows how the truth can be a threatening force for a system. Tijuana drug cartels are still threatened by the possibility that the masses can know the truth. In the film they describe how Haro and the other editors of Zeta published the faces of every hired gunman for the cartel. These were normal men who were a part of the community and now their dark secret was revealed. And of course this is unsettling for the assassins—whether for issues of accountability, secrecy, or shame. The public officials involved in drug cartels are also at risk of exposure so controlling the media is in their best interest. There needs to be a standard of truth and freedom of speech but the budding relationship between the Mexican government and drug cartels stands in the way of this.