Indeed, we had to close our undergraduate journalism program due to the low enrollment for the 2012-2013 period. Sadly, it is the lowest amount of new applicants that we have had in 28 years. We feel, and it looks obvious now, that the current situation has terrified and therefore discouraged students from pursuing a journalism career. We even tried to shift the face of the program by adding courses on digital tools in order to lure potential students but it didn’t work out well. We feel sorry because in the big picture, there won’t be enough journalists and we will all lose in consequence. Morelia’s community of journalists is in a deep deplorable crisis, on the verge of extinction.
Ariel Muñoz, journalist and President of the Universidad de Morelia, to the radio show Zigma Periodistas after being asked how the violence against journalists is being reflected in their journalism program. The radio show was broadcast today on the Mexico City college station Ibero 90.9FM and the story has already been picked up by Terra Networks (in Spanish).
Background: As we noted before, according to a video released by Article 19, Mexican journalists are constantly under threat by both the drug cartels and government officials. The same video also makes the point of how underpaid most Mexican journalists and reporters are: about USD $400 a month. Morelia is the capital city of the state of Michoacán, one of the most violent regions in the country.
