FOIA Help for Spanish Media in the U.S. and in Mexico

Helping The Spanish media get government documents in the U.S. or in Mexico will be the focus of an unprecedented SPJ/CCNMA program in San Diego produced in Spanish — with English transla-tors — by the National Committee on Diversity on February 15, 2007 in a San Diego venue.

The unusual program for Spanish media on both sides of the U.S. Mexican border will be co-sponsored by the San Diego chapter of the California Chicano News Media Association (CCNMA) and hosted by the SPJ’s San Diego “Pro” chapter.

It’s focus will be to train Spanish-media journalists on how to use the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the new Mexican federal “transparency” laws, which are similar to — but more limited than, the American federal FOIA statutes.

There are also state laws such as the California Public Records Act (Government code section 6250-6276.48) that will be included in this rare program produced by the national diversity committee.

It’s believed to be the first time such a program has been presented and the San Diego event will be used as a model for similar programs nationwide.

FOIA documents and materials will be all translated into Spanish for this special event. At a meeting of the San Diego CCNMA on Nov. 11th, they offered to provide the translations.

Some fear eastern translators may use Old Spanish or Puerto Rican style of the language that is quite different than used locally by Latinos in the Mexican media. Who is chosen to do the translations will be determined by Sally Lehman, Chair of the national diversity committee. The local CCNMA members have translators available, depending if whether they are paid by the word in making official translations for Mexican media to understand.

For years, the SPJ in the border region had focused on English-language media issues. That’s about to change dramatically with this new, national program.

In the San Diego area, journalists with Enlace, the Spanish edition of the San Diego Union Tribune, will participate, as will newspapers like el Latino, el Mexicano and el Diario.

Spanish broadcast media invited to participate will include Telemundo, Univision, Mi San Diego Ch. 43, Televisa and TV Azteca.

Spanish media from the Mexican border state of Baja California, that shares its border with San Diego county, will include el Sol de Tijuana, la Chronica and el Mexicana de Ensenada.

The numbers of Spanish journalists from Baja California who might participate is enormous. Special arrangements will be made with American federal I-C-E agents to speed their passage through the border smoothly.

Both Spanish journalists with American media, like the Union Tribune’s Enlace Spanish edition have close contacts with federal authorities in el Districto Federal de Mexico who can help us obtain copies of the federal transparency laws to be used in this special program in San Diego.

The cooperation and enthusiasm to produce a really dynamic and rare cross-border program for the Spanish journalists showed clearly with the enthusiasm of the members of the San Diego CCNMA members.

Hiram Soto, Staff Writer for the San Diego Union Tribune, has agreed to serve as s special liaison between his CCNMA and the SPJ’s National Committee on diversity to make this model program the best for Spanish media on both sides of the border, and a model for the rest of SPJ chapters across the nation.

Spanish journalists across the nation are urged to add their ideas to this unprecedented program by adding notes after this blog.

Leo E. Laurence, J.D.
San Diego News Service
(619) 757-4909
Member, SPJ Nat’l. Committee on Diversity
leopowerhere@msn.com