Mexico's Catholic Church Says Trick-o-Treating is Evil

Mexico's Roman Catholic church slammed Halloween as "damaging and against the faith" on Monday, and conservatives called on Mexicans to halt the steady encroachment of the gouls-and-goblins holiday and return to the country's traditional Day of the Dead ceremonies.

"Those who celebrate Halloween are worshipping a culture of death that is the product of a mix of pagan customs," the Archdiocese of Mexico published in an article Monday on its Web site. "But the worst thing is that this celebration has been identified with neo-pagans, satanism and occult worship." Read more.

SPJ 's Annual Communication Charity Event - Dec. 5

Let the gift giving begin.

Remembering John Gutierrez-Mier

More than 80 came together Saturday night to celebrate the life of John Gutierrez-Mier during an Evening of Platica and Recuerdos. There was cake, wine, lots of loving family, nice slideshow (see below) and a nice tributes from friends and family members.



We all sensed John's spirit was among us that evening. Depending on your beliefs, this photo might prove this. A photo gallery is in the works.

FORMER MEXICAN PRESIDENT FOX LOSES HIS COOL, INSULTS TELEMUNDO REPORTER

Someone replaced Ex-president Vicente Fox toilet paper with sand paper yesterday morning because he lost his temper and insulted an interviewer on Spanish-language Telemundo television who questioned him about controversial land acquisition for his wife during his presidency.

Fox lashed out at journalist Rubén González Luengas in the 17 October interview in studios in Los Angeles, telling him, “You are offensive, a bad interviewer, a liar...” As he stormed off, Fox shouted at a member of staff: “Can you see why they bring me here?”

“Is insulting a journalist a good way of showing your authority?” Reporters Without Borders asked. “Several Latin-American heads of state have recently lost their temper with journalists who asked embarrassing questions. The rank of president does not excuse everything. Those who occupy the position should remember that they rightly have to explain themselves before public opinion,” the worldwide press freedom organisation added.

JOB ALERT: Reporter Position

Anyone who knows a would-be reporter, interested in cutting teeth on one of the Star-Telegram's weekly papers, we have a job opening at the Flower Mound Messenger. It's an entry-level position, can add measurably to a clips file and put food on the table, too. You get to wear a lot of hats, but don't have to take them off when you eat.
 
If you know of any interested folks, please contact us soon. 
 
Thanks,
 
Charles D. Young
 
Executive Editor
Alliance Regional Newspapers
Colleyville Courier, Southlake Journal, Flower Mound Messenger, Grapevine Courier, Trophy Club Times, Roanoke Register, Keller Citizen,Westlake First News, Justin Journal, Argyle Messenger, Haslet Harbinger 
 
Office: 817-329-7700 x 115

DALLAS LULAC JOINS THE REBECCA AGUILAR SUPPORT WAGON

Can Channel 4 continue their silence any longer?

Ok last week it was pressure from the one-sided bloggers and this week, the Dallas Chapter of LULAC joins the team of people seeking an answer from Channel 4 on the future of Rebecca Aguilar.  Also word on the street is that AL DIA paper is doing a write-up on this. OK FOX 4, you really don't need hundreds of non-trick-o-treators outside your office this Halloween, so what is it? We are waiting....

To: Kathy Saunder
      Fox-TV
cc: Maria Barrs
From: Jesse Diaz, President & Gehrig Saldaña, Vice President
         Dallas LULAC Council 4496
Subject: Letter of Support for Rebecca Aguilar
 
Dear Ms. Saunder:
 
We are submitting this email to you in support of Rebecca Aguilar. I will be contacting you this week in order to request a meeting with you regarding our support for Ms. Aguilar. Our council believes Rebecca Aguilar is an excellent reporter who does superb work as a whole and is great at providing first-class reporting on the many issues  affecting Dallas County's Latino community.
 
Our council is gratified the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) have also expressed similar support for Rebecca Aguilar. We are sure NAHJ sees what our council sees in Rebecca Aguilar, she has integrity, honesty, fairness, and most of all, Rebecca is not afraid to show both sides of any news issue she covers.
 
Our council sees Rebecca Aguilar as a gem which shines very bright as she goes about her business as a reporter representing Fox-TV, the general community and our growing Dallas County Latino community. Our council looks forward to meeting with you within the next few days to further address our concern and support for Rebecca Aguilar. 
 
There appears to be a double-standard which has developed in regard to how Rebecca Aguilar has been treated thus far. I can tell you I have never seen this kind of unfounded judgment accessed to other reporters who have covered sensitive issues. An excellent example of this is the many tough news reports Becky Oliver has covered over the past few years. Why was she not treated with the same hard-ball approach Rebecca Aguilar has endured? Is it because she is a Hispanic reporter?
 
Please understand our council fully supports reporters like Becky Oliver who has a history of getting right up to your face when she covers some of her tough news reports. We just want to make sure Rebecca Aguilar is judged with an equal level playing field and is not being singled out for journalistic criticism because of the color of her skin.
 
Once again, we look forward to meeting with to further discuss this issue.
 
Respectively submitted,
 
Jesse Diaz, President
Dallas LULAC Council 4496
8127 Bruton Road, Dallas, TX 75217
Business: 214-381-7777
Cellular: 214-228-6778
Email: Diazjesse@aol.com

 

Gehrig M. Saldaña, Vice President

Dallas LULAC Council 4496

Cellular: 214-870-4371

Irving Idea Spreads to Create Stinky Situation

Some people like the new car smell, and others don't. In Maryland, this Hispanic man was stopped for no reason other than he had too many air fresheners in his car -- or he says, -- basically he looks brown - get him down.


(AP) FREDERICK, Md. A man reportedly stopped by Frederick County sheriff's deputies for having too many air fresheners on his rearview mirror says he suspects the real reason he is that he is Hispanic.

Mauricio Arellano told The Frederick News-Post that the deputies "found an excuse" to stop him and check his immigration status.

The Anne Arundel county resident, who is visiting the United States on a temporary visa, says he showed his Mexican and international driver's licenses. These are sufficient for legally operating a vehicle in Maryland, but the newspaper reports that Arellano was arrested on charges of lacking proper identification.

Frederick County NAACP President Guy Djoken says groundless traffic stops could increase under Sheriff Charles Jenkins' proposed partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Jenkins said he's confident that illegal ethnic profiling won't occur.

KDFW CH 4 SAYS "THREATS" AGAINST REBECCA ARE BEING INVESTIGATED

Although not exactly the final - all - complete answer we wanted to end the Rebecca Aguilar Saga, but for now we will take it as is.. which is a letter to NAHJ from KDFW Channel 4 saying they are 'investigating' the matter and 'appropriate action' will be taken.

Also that they are aware of the security threats from the ignorant bloggers out there.

Read it here.

NAHJ also dropped a recent radio interview and podcast on why the organization's stance on this matter.

JOURNALISM SUPER FRIENDS JOIN TO SUPPORT REBECCA AGUILAR

Meanwhile at the offices of Unity: Journalists of Color, the word has spread that a award-winning reporter from a top news market in the Southwest has received unfair and unjust treatment.

Quickly the team - - comprised of four national associations: Asian American Journalists Association, National Association of Black Journalists, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and the Native American Journalists Association -- assembles and raise their hands and announce the following:




It has come to the attention of UNITY: Journalists of Color that a television reporter at KDFW-TV Fox 4 in Dallas was suspended last week after public outcry over her aggressive style of reporting.

The story by Rebecca Aguilar focuses on her questioning of a junkyard dealer who had killed two alleged burglars in a span of three weeks.

Upon reviewing the interview, it is apparent that while Aguilar used bold tactics to pursue the story, she did not violate any journalistic standards.

It is puzzling why KDFW chose to run Aguilar’s piece, and then suspended her only after the station received public pressure. Either her reporting was a violation of the station’s standards from the beginning and should never have run, or the station should have – out of fairness – also suspended the decision-makers who aired the piece.

UNITY – which represents nearly 10,000 journalists of color nationwide – believes Aguilar was singled out for disciplinary action to appease a vocal sector of the public without regard to whether she violated journalistic standards.

UNITY calls upon KDFW to reconsider its disciplinary action against Aguilar, an award-winning journalist with years of experience in television reporting. Let her right to pursue the truth, as well as the editors’ right to initially air that piece, both be judged by the same standard.

In response, ignorant bloggers give up and look elsewhere for their fear mongering needs.

SPANISH NOVELAS FINALLY GIVE WAY TO FIRE COVERAGE IN SAN DIEGO

It only takes 500,000 people to evacuate in danger to interrupt what Cami, Lupita and Pablo are planning for revenge on the Spanish television. A report out today by New American Media that Spanish broadcasts finally interrupted their regular programming (novelas and variety shows) on Monday.

“Veía los canales en inglés pero estaba desesperada porque casi no les entendía. Como a las siete de la tarde los policías —uno hablaba español— llegaron a mi departamento para decirme que tenía que irme porque corría peligro”.

or in English

I saw the news on the english channels but frustrated because I can't fully understand. It wasn't until 7 p.m. that the police - one a Spanish-speaker - came knocking at my door and warned me of the approaching danger.

Read more.

REBECCA AGUILAR BREAKS SILENCE AND FIGHTS BACK IN BLOGSITE

You can't keep an award-winning reporter too quiet for long. Rebecca Aguilar breaks her silence, against her attorney's will, and speaks out on the incident to former Dallas Morning News, now turned TV critic Ed Bark blog site, Uncle Barkey's Bytes.

Aguilar details how the whole brouhaha has affected her and how the Television station she has worked for nearly 20 years has disappointed her. "I'm bruised, honey. Yeah, I'm bruised." She also reveals the real story on her communication with the 70-year old man. "I am known for asking questions that I think bring back deeper answers, but I treated this man with utmost respect. In fact, some of the questions I asked him on-camera I had asked him already in our conversations on the phone. That's why you don't see him alarmed . . . I knew that he felt comfortable with me, and I felt comfortable with him. I know from experience when people don't want me around."

Read the interview here.

Gilbert Bailon to Leave Al Dia, Dallas Morning News

Gilbert Bailon, publisher and editor of Al Día and president of the American Society of Newspapers Editors, and hall of fame recipient for the Network of Hispanic Communicators announced today that he is leaving Al Dia and The Dallas Morning News, effective November 9 to become the new editorial-page editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

From the "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" ...

"We are very fortunate to have a journalist of Gilbert's caliber leading our editorial page, building the newspaper's long-standing tradition of advocacy for our region," said Post-Dispatch publisher Kevin Mowbray in announcing the appointment today.

Bailon, 48, said the editorial staff "will continue to build on our vital role as public servants in a free society and to help the readers stay informed to improve their lives."

Before joining the Morning News there, he was a reporter for the Los Angeles Daily News, the San Diego Union-Tribune and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

- Read the story in the paper and Gilbert's plans

Dallas Morning News Also Drops Story on Rebecca Aguilar Saga

This story was a little harder to find. It was posted by The Dallas Morning News media critic Tom Maurstad this weekend and also elaborates on the 'force' of the response by KDFW Ch 4 and the NAHJ recommendation. 

"You can disagree with the professionalism of her interview tactics," Rafael Olmeda, President of NAHJ said. "But the punishment is all out of proportion to her offense, and that it's directed at only one person is patently unfair."

Read the story here.

Read the Opinion Editorial from the DMN here.

NCLR Throws Middle Finger at Kansas City, Pulls Out of 2009 Conference

You don't like us? Well then you won't miss our money and have your convention empty that weekend. 

“The National Council of La Raza’s board voted this afternoon to yank its 2009 convention from Kansas City in protest of a park board appointee belonging to a group it believes is hostile to Hispanics.

The board followed the recommendation of local La Raza affiliates, who had asked the board to pull the convention. Two months ago, the head of La Raza, Kansas native Janet Murguía, told Mayor Mark Funkhouser that if his appointee, Frances Semler, didn’t step down from the park board, La Raza would likely pull the convention.
The convention had been expected to fill more than 5,000 hotel rooms, with an economic impact to the city of more than $5 million.

Pull the middle finger and read more.

Rebecca Aguilar Saga Continues: Star-Telegram Editor Drops Story

Finally, a printed and published - non-blog account of the Rebecca Aguilar saga. Star-Telegram's Spanish language paper, La Estrella, editor David Sedeño posted an account of the brouhaha titled "
A matter of ethnicity and journalistic ethics," which he details the full facts of the situation.

He also gives much needed background on Rebecca Aguilar's successful journalism career, information that the "pitchfork" bloggers often (or purposely) omit from their rants. The story ran on Sunday's opinion section. Click here to read the piece.

Welcome to the Party NAHJ - Organization Get's a BLOG - Guess which story is first...

Hey NAHJ great to see you guys on the Blog neighborhood. It's been a few weeks for us and it's been fun and wacky. Done right, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Blog will be a good outlet for quick noticias and chisme and also updates on the group.

So congrats on the move and we look forward to reading your Blog posts and even sharing Blog drops and urls. Remember to keep it updated and don't let Blog posts get cobwebs.

Read the NAHJ Blog.

NAHJ POSTS LETTER TO URGE CH 4 TO REINSTATE REBECCA AGUILAR

As expected, NAHJ tonight posted a 3 page letter that urges Dallas' KDFW-TV Fox 4 to reinstate reporter Rebecca Aguilar immediately.

The letter follows a day-long storm of blogs on her "aggressive" reporting skills. 

 "NAHJ affirms that journalistic principles, not special-interest driven community response, should determine if a reporter stays on the air."  The report also scolds Ch 4's treatment as she was "escorted" out of the Fox 4 studios. 

The letter also states that no action was taken to the news editor and others who also let the story air - unedited. 

According to several NAHJ officers bloggers have, for the most part, are raising pitchforks and torches mainly because of her recent award winning Hispanic award - believing this will fuel the anti-Hispanic sentiment.

Meanwhile KDFW has continued to meet over this matter, as well as others,  and instructed editors and staff to keep quiet on this issue for the time being. 

In order to quiet down the brouhaha, KDFW legal team has also requested that all video footage from YouTube be removed. A staff is currently sifting through all the keywords to find any occurances and issuing copyright emails. 

As for action. The station has stated that her "indefinitely suspended" is just that -- and Rebecca Aguilar's bio has NOT been removed from the current staff. But, after repeated calls, will not discuss when the "suspension" will be over. 

KDFW insiders say they have received a barrage of calls, some of them extremely vulgar, but sources say "management will not be bullied" by bloggers. 

As for the statement, the station now says this is matter is private matter and therefore will not be discussed publically. No decision has been made for Viewer's Voice or even if they will air the comments from the callers. We will keep you posted.

By the way, overnight ratings for KDFW news at 9 pm for Thursday are slightly up and higher than normal, says one source.

Read NAHJ LETTER. 

NAHJ REQUESTS RESPONSE FROM CH 4, STATION PREPARING AN APOLOGY

The cranky gun owner heard around the blog world.

Or just a slow news day. The temporary 'suspension' of Rebecca Aguilar is now rolling through several blog sites.

While most sites are being critical of her actions, few question the role of the editor or other staff at KDFW Fox 4. Until now. The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) is now requesting an inquiry into her "suspension" and a written response from KDFW FOX 4 and also questioning the 'reporting' tactics of KDFW Fox 4 in general ( ala Becky Oliver reporting ).

Meanwhile sources at KDFW FOX 4 say the station has received a flood of calls and is preparing an apology to viewers for the incident for some of the "tactics" used in the story. Look for the apology to air tonight at the 9 p.m. news or during the Viewer's Voice segment on Friday nights. As for Rebecca, the station isn't saying anything except that it is only a suspension.

CHANNEL 4 SUSPENDS REBECCA AGUILAR

From the DALLAS OBSERVER BLOG-

"KDFW Suspends Rebecca Aguilar After Controversial "Ambush"

Monday night, KDFW-Channel 4 ran a piece about 70-year-old James Walton, owner of Able Walton Machine & Welding in West Dallas, who, early Sunday morning, shot and killed and man trying to break into his business. What made Walton's story so extraordinary was that it was the second time he'd killed an intruder in three weeks. As it happens, Walton also lives at his place of business. Read more. "

Former Mexican president Fox Throws Middle-Finger at U.S. Government

A promotional stunt.. or just some observations from an outsider. Vincente Fox will be in town today pumping his new book Revolution of Hope: The Life, Faith, and Dreams of a Mexican President. 

The Dallas Morning News scores a interview with the former leader who pretty much criticizes President Bush and also the immigration nazis. 

""What is happening in Irving, Texas, is disturbing, deeply troubling," he said. "It shows that the anti-immigrant mood that I confronted in the U.S. Congress has now reached the public at large."... "Many of the people from my hometown of San Cristóbal are people I grew up with, honest, hardworking men I played marbles with as kids, and who later had to migrate to North Texas, Dallas. Of course it hurts when these cities deny the people you grew up with and treat [them] like criminals."

 Read the story.