Jose Antonio Zapata Cabral
Encyclopedia
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...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
in the Mexican city of Aguascalientes
Aguascalientes
Aguascalientes is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 11 municipalities and its capital city is Aguascalientes....
. He is the former CEO of the news web site Cu4tro.com, Metroaguascalientes.com and Oigo.com.mx. Currently is CEO at the journalistic news site [elreportero.com.mx] and reporter in El Heraldo de Aguascalientes. In the winter of 1999 he became the first digital journalist in Aguascalientes, starting with Cu4tro.com, the first news portal ever made for this city.
During the existence of Cu4tro.com, Antonio Zapata discovered that the Foundation Act of Aguascalientes city was stolen from the Historical Archive. After initially downplaying the information provided by Zapata, the government, following an investigation, was forced to acknowledge that the Foundation Act of Aguascalientes city was indeed lost. The document has never been recovered.
Later, based in the same web site, Zapata launched the first free commuter daily newspaper in Aguascalientes. He coordinated the press bureau for the political campaign for Arturo Robles Aguilar to get elected as Federal Deputy at the Congress. Antonio Zapata was also the first 'zone newspapers' editor in Aguascalientes city, creating the first zonal information network in the city, including the major districts (colonias) in the city. After that, Antonio Zapata launched Aguascalientes' first free weekly commuter and public service newspaper, with employment ads and urban bus routes.
During this new endeavour, Antonio Zapata discovered a political cell of neo-Nazis who looked for the supremacy of classes over the most impoverished sectors of the city. Once again, in spite of this discovery, the government of Aguascalientes again disregarded the investigation, but international organizations backed up the journalist and documented the case in other countries.
Currently he hosts a daily Internet radio program with news, editorial comments, and an amusing intro/outro that typically features the music of a favorite band or artist; Zapata is something of a connoisseur of 1980s pop and rock. He also investigates journalism in Aguascalientes.
Jose Antonio Zapata also started the first Internet TV service focused on Aguascalientes. Also he deployed the first podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
service, with streaming audio and video feeds related to Aguascalientes.
In November 2005, he joined the [ourmedia.org] web site as the moderator for the Spanish worldwide initiative to bring to Hispanic people knowledge to conduct citizen journalism
Citizen journalism
Citizen journalism is the concept of members of the public "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information," according to the seminal 2003 report We Media: How Audiences are Shaping the Future of News and Information...
using audio and video.
In September 2006, he was elected as General Secretary of the Reporters Association of Aguascalientes (Asociación de Reporteros de Aguascalientes).
In September 2007, he hosted a commercial radio program at ACIR named Ya no hay respeto
Ya no hay respeto
Ya no hay respeto is a popular radio program in Aguascalientes city about myths, politics and actual themes. The distinction of the program is the way conductors talk about those topics, usually humorous and a bit lack of diplomacy.The success of the program is in part because Aguascalientes city...
, which tries to open discussion about popular myths and hard topics, but after a strong criticize to the Governor Luis Armando Reynoso Femat, the entire station was threatened with a suspension of the public founds if they keep the program. In December 2007, the program finally was suspended.
In January 2008, Zapata started the first internet radio station which broadcast 24/365 news, interviews and radio programs. In September 2008 he was invited by Radio Educación to teach internet radio skills to the professionals of the industry at the 7th International Biennial of Radio, and ratified for the same class in the 8th Biennial 2010, which will be realized from October 4 to 8 in Mexico City.
From November 2008 to April 2009, was Chief Editor of La Jornada Aguascalientes newspaper.
From January to July 2010, he worked as web strategy director for the candidate for governor of Aguascalientes, Carlos Lozano de la Torre, and created a digital and social media
Social media
The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,...
campaign that was considered the sixth best placed in Mexico, according to the magazine 'Digital Policy'.
Partial list of works
- Aquí y ahora - TV program - 1992
- Oldies Time - Radio program - 1992
- El Cuaderno - Magazine - 1993
- México Nuevo - Magazine - 1994
- Cu4tro.com - News portal for Aguascalientes city - 1999
- Cu4tro.com para llevar - Free commuter newspaper - 2002
- El correo de las Haciendas - Zone newspaper - 2003
- El correo de Ojocaliente - Zone newspaper - 2003
- El correo de Casablanca - Zone newspaper - 2004
- El correo de Morelos - Zone newspaper - 2004
- El correo de Pabellón - Zone newspaper - 2004
- Metro Aguascalientes - Newspaper and web site- 2005
- Metro Zacatecas - Newspaper and web site - 2005
- Ya no hay respeto - Radio program - 2007
- METROAguascalientes radio - internet radio station - 2008
- Oigo.com.mx - internet radio station - 2008
- La Jornada Aguascalientes - Newspaper and web site - 2008
- elreportero.com.mx - Journalism news website - 2009