Mexico

March 19th, 2013  |  By Mary Stucky

An Orchestra of Guns

Electric Guitar by Pedro Reyes Courtesy of Lisson Gallery, London; Photograph © Ken Adlard

The United States and Mexico share deep personal, economic, geographic and cultural connections, but understanding — on both sides of the border — is often limited by stereotype and media exaggeration.  Round Earth Media is out to change that. We launched in 2005, with a bounty of stories from Mexico, supported by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Now, in a groundbreaking new collaboration and with generous support from the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation, Round Earth Media is pairing young American and Mexican journalists, to produce powerful, untold stories from Mexico.  These stories are broadcast and published in top-tier media, reaching huge audiences in both countries.  Here’s our latest, broadcast on NPR.  Mexico City artist Pedro Reyes is in the process of converting thousands of narco gang weapons seized by the government into musical instruments. Click HERE to listen.

February 19th, 2013  |  By Mary Stucky

Transforming Guns into Musical Instruments

Mexico City artist Pedro Reyes is in the process of converting thousands of narco gang weapons seized by the government into musical instruments.  Mexican reporter Omar Sanchez de Tagle, paired with American reporter Marlon Bishop, produced this story as part of Round Earth’s Mexico Reporting Project.  Omar’s story appears in Animal Politico, a major Mexican investigative news website.

To read this powerful story in Spanish, view photos and a video, click HERE.

Our untold stories, published and broadcast in top-tier media, reach huge audiences in the U.S. and in the countries where we are reporting.


February 7th, 2013  |  By Mary Stucky

High-Tech Manufacturing Driving Economy in Mexico: The latest from Round Earth’s Mexico Project

Mexico City's ubiquitous VW bug } Photo: Marlon Bishop

Mexico was once known for cheap manufacturing. But as that sort of business has fled to Asia, Mexico has concentrated on auto manufacturing and other higher-tech industries.  From Marlon Bishop and Javier Risco, on PRI’s The World.

If you’ve ever been to Mexico City, chances are you’ve sat in an old Volkswagen Bug taxi, stuck in Mexico City’s notorious traffic. Volkswagen first came to Mexico in 1967, when it opened a plant in Puebla, a few hours drive from Mexico City. For decades, the Bug was the biggest-selling car in the country.  Today, the Puebla plant has expanded to become the largest auto factory in North America, employing 18,000 people. It’s a state-of-the-art facility full of industrial robots and blinking computer equipment. The plant has the capacity to produce 2,500 cars a day, in popular models such as the Jetta and Golf.  Many Mexicans are benefiting from this new high tech economy while many others are being left behind.  Click HERE for the story.

January 8th, 2013  |  By Mary Stucky

Mexico Aims To Save Babies And Moms With Modern Midwifery

The United States and Mexico share deep personal, economic, geographic and cultural connections, but understanding – on both sides of the border – is often limited by stereotype and media exaggeration. Round Earth Media is out to change that.  We launched in 2005, with a bounty of stories from Mexico, supported by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.  Now, in a groundbreaking new collaboration, Round Earth Media is pairing young American and Mexican journalists, to produce powerful, untold stories from Mexico, stories rich in place and humanity.  These stories, broadcast and published in top-tier media, are reaching huge audiences in both countries.

American journalist Monica Ortiz Uribe (in photo with mic) and Lillian Lopez Camberos, a Mexican journalist, interviewing in Mexico for the story they produced in partnership.

Round Earth Media’s new Mexico Reporting Project is supported by a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.  The focus of these stories: important but little known or commonly misunderstood aspects of life in Mexico.

Click HERE to listen to Monica Ortiz Uribe’s story about midwives in Mexico, broadcast on NPR’s Weekend Edition. Good maternal health care is a challenge in many parts of rural Mexico. Maternity hospital wards are often overcrowded and caesarian sections are routinely scheduled, rather than allowing time for the natural birth process to take place. But this August, in the rural state of Guerrero, the Mexican government opened its first maternity hospital with trained, professional midwives to help alleviate these problems. We pay a visit to Guerrero and see how these new developments are making giving birth easier for women.

November 28th, 2012  |  By Mary Stucky

Mexico’s Drug War Is Changing Childhood

Mexico’s violent drug war has gotten a lot of sensational attention in U.S. media but there’s been very little attention paid to the effect of this unrelenting violence on Mexico’s children.  Round Earth Media’s Mexico Reporting Project is dedicated to reporting important, untold stories from Mexico, like this one from Annie Murphy which was broadcast on NPR’s  All Things Considered. CLICK HERE to listen to Annie’s powerful story about the ways in which violence is dramatically changing what it’s like to be a kid in Mexico. At Round Earth Media we pair early-career American reporters with early-career reporters in the countries where where we’re working to publish and broadcast in top-tier media in both countries.  Here’s Annie Murphy on the partnership and Round Earth’s ground-breaking model.

Mexican reporter Isabella Cota & and American reporter Annie Murphy interviewing together in Mexico.

Like most freelancers, I’m used to flying solo, which often means making many decisions on my own, at all stages of reporting. While there are things I really enjoy about that system, working with Round Earth was refreshing precisely because of the collaborative model the organization uses. I was paired to work in the field with reporter Isabella Cota, a top-notch Mexican journalist, as well as on the production side with veteran reporters and editors Mary Stucky and Leda Hartman. In working with Isabella I found both a colleague and a friend, a fellow reporter I will doubtless turn to for advice and feedback in the future, and someone whose career I’ll support in any way I’m able; that same spirit of camaraderie applies to the editorial side of the project as well. I think that the sum of all our experiences and resources as reporters and editors allowed us to tackle this pair of stories in Mexico in a way that was efficient, in-depth, and fun–and much more comprehensive than what I’d have been able to do on my own in the same amount of time. (more…)

June 22nd, 2010  |  By Mary Stucky

From a Friend of Round Earth

Elisa Bernick (at left) is one of those people who never had to be convinced about the importance of reliable global journalism. She’s a former radio reporter and video producer and the author of The Family Sabbatical Handbook: The Budget Guide to Living Abroad With Your Children. I’ve used the fabulous checklists in this book to plan for a reporting trip and it’s a great resource for anyone who lives or travels abroad. You can buy Elisa’s book through Amazon or intrepidtraveler.com. Elisa currently works as a writer for The Family Handyman magazine, a national DIY home improvement magazine published by The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc. Here’s what she has to say about Round Earth.

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April 22nd, 2010  |  By Round Earth Media

Mexico’s markets going mainstream

Alongside the more traditional fresh food markets in Mexico, US-style supermarkets are beginning to appear. | Photo by Mary Stucky

Alongside the more traditional fresh food markets in Mexico, US-style supermarkets are beginning to appear. | Photo by Mary Stucky

Visitors to Mexico are charmed by all of the colorful food markets – fruits and vegetables in gorgeous display and, maybe not so appetizing – raw meat hanging from hooks and piled on chopping blocks. But these traditional markets in Mexico are giving way to US-style supermarkets with produce and meat wrapped neatly in plastic. Mary Stucky reports about the recent and dramatic growth of supermarkets in Mexico.
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April 10th, 2010  |  By Round Earth Media

Edible flowers in Mexico

Mexican food writer Nicholas Gilman buying colorin outside the church in Malinalco Mexico. | Photo by Mary Stucky

Mexican food writer Nicholas Gilman buying colorin outside the church in Malinalco Mexico. | Photo by Mary Stucky

In the United States it’s traditional to put a bouquet of flowers on the dinner table but we don’t think of eating those flowers. Not so in Mexico where you’re almost as likely to find flowers in the food as on the table. As Mary Stucky reports, Mexicans have been cooking with flowers – and eating them – for centuries.
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April 8th, 2010  |  By Round Earth Media

Abortion and gay marriage new hot-button issues in Mexico

Busy bar scenes like this one in Pata Negra are a common occurrence in Mexico City's Condessa neighborhood. | Photo by Christopher Wilson

Busy bar scenes like this one in Pata Negra are a common occurrence in Mexico City's Condesa neighborhood. | Photo by Christopher Wilson

Hot button social issues like abortion and gay marriage are a staple of American politics. But in Mexico these controversial issues were rarely a factor in elections – until now. It all started when Mexico City legalized abortion three years ago. And, late last year Mexico’s huge capital city gave legal approval for gay marriage. This in a country that’s overwhelmingly Catholic. As Mary Stucky reports, Mexicans have broken what was once considered a taboo: mixing religion and politics.
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March 14th, 2010  |  By Mary Stucky

Does Mexican Food Deserve UN Designation?

chocolateLast month, Mexico asked the United Nations to designate Mexican food a “cultural patrimony” that must be protected. Mexican cuisine dates back thousands of years to the Mayas and their diet based on diverse varieties of corn, beans and vegetables. Traditional Mexican cuisine should never be confused with what passes for “Mexican food’ in many U.S. restaurants and fast food joints. This photo shows 2 young women in Oaxaca enjoying a traditional chocolate drink called chocolate atole. Photo: Ginny Grossman

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