[Wamvan] Book Launch and Discussion: "The Chilling State of Journalism in Mexico." October 21, 2011, 4:30pm, Liu Institute Case Room, UBC

[Natalie Hill]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Katherine Fobear <katherinefobear at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 3:08 PM
Subject: Book Launch and Discussion: "The Chilling State of Journalism in
Mexico." October 21, 2011, 4:30pm, Liu Institute Case Room, UBC
To: cwags-grads at interchange.ubc.ca, Sociology Graduate Office <
socigrad at interchange.ubc.ca>, liu-tjnetwork at interchange.ubc.ca




"From Reporter to Refugee: The Chilling State of Journalism in Mexico"

Book Launch and Discussion of The Talent of Charlatans, by Karla Lottini

October 21, 2011, 4:30pm, Liu Institute Case Room, UBC

With the Author, as well as Alexander Dawson (Director, Latin American
Studies, Simon Fraser University). Moderated by Manole Valle.

Karla Lottini is a Mexican Journalist currently residing in Canada on an
unresolved refugee claim. That claim is based on death threats she received
while preparing The Talent of Charlatans, an exposé of corruption within the
cultural agencies of the Mexican Government, for publication. As a result of
those threats, Karla left the country, and decided have the book published
in English as well as Spanish.

Our event will combine a discussion of the claims Lottini makes in her book
with a larger discussion of the perils of journalism in contemporary Mexico.
This country has for some time been one of the most dangerous places in the
world to work as a journalist, as for more than two decades journalists have
been targeted for murder when reporting on various criminal activities. At
this point there is no effective journalism taking place in large regions of
the country, resulting in a situation in which our understandings of various
critical phenomena – such as the drug trade and the government’s response –
are largely based on official reports, rumour and speculation.

What is most disturbing about this issue is that, if Lottini’s claims are
borne out, the threats to journalists in Mexico are spreading beyond the
drug war and into a much larger arena. This portends a potentially chilling
effect for all reporting in Mexico.

This event will appeal to students and scholars of Latin America, but also
to those interested in migration and refugee claims, those interested in the
drug war and violence, and to anyone interested in journalism in the
contemporary world.

Karla Lottini (born Mexico City, 1973), graduated from the School of Writers
(SOGEM); Cultural journalist; ex-reporter of the National Council for
Culture and Arts (Conaculta), and Cultural Promoter who has given literature
workshops. She has published in various newspapers and magazines, and won
awards such as: Cultural Journalist of the State (Quintana Roo, 2000); and
Mythological Story (Sian Ka’an, Qroo, 2001). In 2005 and 2006, she
coordinated the community projects which resulted in two published books: De
ficciones y divagaciones and Pasiones. Currently she lives in Vancouver,
where she works as a volunteer in ecological and cultural activities. She
also participates in the project www.72migrantes.com and as a migrant writer
in the Vancouver Public Library’s “Spanish Voices” program. She is a member
of the Vancouver South Cultural Project, and recently collaborated with the
radio program “Latino Soy.” She tries to exert her “literary activism” in
favour of Human Rights, and, like millions of Mexicans, is fed up with
corruption, impunity and death because of violence in Mexico.

Alexander Dawson is an Associate Professor of History and Director of the
Latin American Studies Program at SFU. He has written extensively on Mexico,
including the book First World Dreams: Mexico Since 1989 (2006).


http://las.arts.ubc.ca/2011/book-launch-and-discussion-the-talent-of-the-charlatans/



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