Grupo Reforma
Encyclopedia
Grupo Reforma is the largest printed media company in Mexico
and Latin America
. It publishes ten daily newspapers in five cities, including the leading newspapers in Mexico's three largest cities: Reforma
in Mexico City
, El Norte in Monterrey
and Mural in Guadalajara
. It also publishes the daily Metro in Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Puebla
and Toluca
, and the afternoon tabloid El Sol in Monterrey. The average daily circulation of all these papers is 1.4 million copies.
The group also owns the largest content-intensive web sites in Mexico: reforma.com, elnorte.com, and mural.com. It owns the largest newswire service with Mexican information, Agencia Reforma. Cancha, a tabloid with Mexican sports and entertainment news, is published biweekly in Las Vegas
in partnership with The Las Vegas Review-Journal. Grupo Reforma also has strategic alliances with leading US dailies to publish their information in its papers, including a daily section of The Wall Street Journal
and a weekly section of The New York Times
.
and Rodolfo Junco Jr. from the merger of two companies, Editora el Sol S.A. and Ediciones del Norte S.A.
The newsgroup was started with the founding of El Sol in April 1922, followed by El Norte in 1938, Monterrey's Metro in 1988, Reforma in 1993, Palabra and Mexico City's Metro in 1997, Mural in 1998, Saltillo
's Metro in 2004 and Guadalajara's Metro in 2005.
Reforma was an offshoot of El Norte, the noted Monterrey-based daily. Grupo Reforma was the first newsgroup in Mexico to separate its commercial division from its journalism division. This allows for a greater independence, and helps journalists resist the temptation of writing articles favorable to sponsors.
When it was founded on November 20, the newspaper pressured unionized newsstands to sell the paper that day. Since November 20 is the Día de la Revolución (Day of the Revolution), an obligatory public holiday in México, the unions refused, so Reforma was sold on the streets by journalists and celebrities as a protest against what they considered "a boycott". Reforma changed the traditional distribution of newspapers with its independence from the unionized newsstands and printed media resellers. It also was innovative because of the inclusion of people of all political opinions in its editorial pages.
Grupo Reforma's independent journalism drew the ire of the powerful Mexico City carrier union barely a year after it was born. This syndicate controls distribution of all newspapers in the capital city and was traditionally used by the political system to bring down any paper that was deemed unacceptable. The carrier union boycotted the distribution of Reforma in Mexico City in October 1994. Grupo Reforma decided to create an independent distribution channel to sell Reforma on the city streets. The support of the readers was incredible: intellectuals, artists and regular folks joined Reforma' s personnel in the process of creating this channel. Dozens of people took to the streets to sell the paper, despite the verbal and even physical violence of the carrier union. Currently, Reforma is distributed independently to the homes of 85,000 subscribers, to supermarkets and other retail outlets and to readers in Mexico city's streets. The paper's daily circulation averages 200,000.
Grupo Reforma's dailies have an open journalism model that is very different from any newspaper in the world. One of the cornerstones of this model is the editorial board. Each section of every paper has an editorial board composed of readers and leaders in the section's area of interest who get together weekly or bi-monthly to set the section's editorial agenda. For example, the editorial board of Reforma' s national section may include a diputado (member of house of representatives), a senator, several politicians, some members of non-governmental organization
s, as well as regular readers. The boards have complete liberty of action in setting what is covered. The board is led by each section's editor, the person who is directly responsible for the daily operation of the section.
Each board session is divided in two parts. First, the board members critique the content published in the section since the last time they met. What was done right? What needs to be corrected? What was plainly wrong? These and other similar topics are covered. Second, the discussion centers on the work ahead. What stories should the section be working on? Who should the paper be interviewing? Are there any events that should be covered? It is in this part of the meeting that the editorial agenda is defined.
Each year, 850 people make up the 70 editorial boards that define the editorial agenda for all of Grupo Reforma's papers. More than eight thousand people have been members of an editorial board during the 15 years that they have been in operation. Participation is voluntary, so no payment is given. The boards are revamped each year, but a couple of members are chosen to stay on to deal with any unfinished work in progress. Every quarter, the editor gives his/her board a balance of all the suggestions they have provided and how they have been implemented in the section.
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
. It publishes ten daily newspapers in five cities, including the leading newspapers in Mexico's three largest cities: Reforma
Reforma
Reforma is a Mexican newspaper based in Mexico City. It has 276,700 readers in Mexico City. The paper shares content with other papers in parent newsgroup Grupo Reforma. The cumulative readership of the newsgroup is above 400,000...
in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, El Norte in Monterrey
Monterrey
Monterrey , is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the...
and Mural in Guadalajara
Guadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...
. It also publishes the daily Metro in Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Puebla
Puebla, Puebla
The city and municipality of Puebla is the capital of the state of Puebla, and one of the five most important colonial cities in Mexico. Being a planned city, it is located to the east of Mexico City and west of Mexico's main port, Veracruz, on the main route between the two.The city was founded...
and Toluca
Toluca
Toluca, formally known as Toluca de Lerdo, is the state capital of Mexico State as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. It is the center of a rapidly growing urban area, now the fifth largest in Mexico. It is located west-southwest of Mexico City and only about 40 minutes by car to the...
, and the afternoon tabloid El Sol in Monterrey. The average daily circulation of all these papers is 1.4 million copies.
The group also owns the largest content-intensive web sites in Mexico: reforma.com, elnorte.com, and mural.com. It owns the largest newswire service with Mexican information, Agencia Reforma. Cancha, a tabloid with Mexican sports and entertainment news, is published biweekly in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
in partnership with The Las Vegas Review-Journal. Grupo Reforma also has strategic alliances with leading US dailies to publish their information in its papers, including a daily section of The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
and a weekly section of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
.
History
Grupo Reforma was created by Alejandro Junco de la VegaAlejandro Junco de la Vega
Alejandro Junco de la Vega was born August 28, 1948 in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. He is a distinguished Mexican journalist. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin in 1969....
and Rodolfo Junco Jr. from the merger of two companies, Editora el Sol S.A. and Ediciones del Norte S.A.
The newsgroup was started with the founding of El Sol in April 1922, followed by El Norte in 1938, Monterrey's Metro in 1988, Reforma in 1993, Palabra and Mexico City's Metro in 1997, Mural in 1998, Saltillo
Saltillo
Saltillo is the capital city of the northeastern Mexican state of Coahuila and the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. The city is located about 400 km south of the U.S. state of Texas, and 90 km west of Monterrey, Nuevo León....
's Metro in 2004 and Guadalajara's Metro in 2005.
Reforma was an offshoot of El Norte, the noted Monterrey-based daily. Grupo Reforma was the first newsgroup in Mexico to separate its commercial division from its journalism division. This allows for a greater independence, and helps journalists resist the temptation of writing articles favorable to sponsors.
When it was founded on November 20, the newspaper pressured unionized newsstands to sell the paper that day. Since November 20 is the Día de la Revolución (Day of the Revolution), an obligatory public holiday in México, the unions refused, so Reforma was sold on the streets by journalists and celebrities as a protest against what they considered "a boycott". Reforma changed the traditional distribution of newspapers with its independence from the unionized newsstands and printed media resellers. It also was innovative because of the inclusion of people of all political opinions in its editorial pages.
Grupo Reforma's independent journalism drew the ire of the powerful Mexico City carrier union barely a year after it was born. This syndicate controls distribution of all newspapers in the capital city and was traditionally used by the political system to bring down any paper that was deemed unacceptable. The carrier union boycotted the distribution of Reforma in Mexico City in October 1994. Grupo Reforma decided to create an independent distribution channel to sell Reforma on the city streets. The support of the readers was incredible: intellectuals, artists and regular folks joined Reforma
Grupo Reforma's dailies have an open journalism model that is very different from any newspaper in the world. One of the cornerstones of this model is the editorial board. Each section of every paper has an editorial board composed of readers and leaders in the section's area of interest who get together weekly or bi-monthly to set the section's editorial agenda. For example, the editorial board of Reforma
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
s, as well as regular readers. The boards have complete liberty of action in setting what is covered. The board is led by each section's editor, the person who is directly responsible for the daily operation of the section.
Each board session is divided in two parts. First, the board members critique the content published in the section since the last time they met. What was done right? What needs to be corrected? What was plainly wrong? These and other similar topics are covered. Second, the discussion centers on the work ahead. What stories should the section be working on? Who should the paper be interviewing? Are there any events that should be covered? It is in this part of the meeting that the editorial agenda is defined.
Each year, 850 people make up the 70 editorial boards that define the editorial agenda for all of Grupo Reforma's papers. More than eight thousand people have been members of an editorial board during the 15 years that they have been in operation. Participation is voluntary, so no payment is given. The boards are revamped each year, but a couple of members are chosen to stay on to deal with any unfinished work in progress. Every quarter, the editor gives his/her board a balance of all the suggestions they have provided and how they have been implemented in the section.