The fate of the scorpion tiptoes through the public conversation in Mexico, a minefield where the truth is confused with the most explosive narrative. Three recent episodes illustrate our problematic information fragility: the rapid dissemination of an alleged attack against Omar García Harfuch, the confusion surrounding the arrest of the theatrical Simón Levy in Lisbon, and the debate over whether disseminating the toxic occurrences of Ricardo Salinas Pliego is equivalent to socializing extreme right-wing ideas. Although different, these facts reveal the vulnerability of our media ecosystem.
From his column The UniversalRaymundo Riva Palacio ignited the rumor about an alleged attack against the Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection in a residence in Polanco. Opinion columns, social media accounts and digital portals reproduced it without verification. The insinuation was enough for it to become “fact” in the minds of thousands. Omar García Harfush denied everything at a press conference and, even so, some insisted: “He looked nervous,” “They don’t want us to know.” The bet is repeated: in an ecosystem where the scoop is worth more than certainty, verification “is a tree that bears blackberries.” The result erodes trust in the media and fuels the perception that anything is possible, even what never happened. That was the intention.
The case of the character Simón Levy Dabbah is a theatrical example of how fragmented and contradictory information becomes a spectacle. Mexican and Portuguese authorities first reported his arrest in Lisbon; Levy, for his part, and as usual, did not take long to turn to social networks and interviews in order to deny the facts and warn that he had suffered a gun attack, from which his security team had miraculously saved him. He claimed to be in Washington.
The media, faced with the urgency, instead of constructing a clear chronology and contrasting documents, limited themselves to reproducing both versions as if they were equivalent. And nothing about the attack. But social media users were in charge of identifying the place from which Levy transmitted: the Myriad Hotel, in Lisbon, recognizable by the interior decoration of its restaurant and by an unmistakable red piano that appears in the images of his interviews.
The next day, again from the presidential “La mañanera”, the information from Interpol was reiterated and the official document of Levy’s arrest was shown, now adding that he had been released with restrictions while the extradition request is received. Even one of the lawyers who is besieging him flew to Portugal to prove Levy’s lies. At the time when the scorpion writes this note, the performance continues, the character’s performance continues and even warns of more surprises. In this case, journalism, which should order the chaos, ended up expanding it or immersed in it, just as the character wanted – the poisonous one suspects – to weaken institutional credibility. He did it.
The third episode, the discussion about whether it is useful to discuss Salinas Pliego’s toxic occurrences in the media, opens up a major ethical dilemma. Should a media outlet broadcast the statements of a businessman who, with enormous economic and media power, uses his platforms to promote discourses typical of the extreme right? The ayuujk writer Yásnaya Aguilar has maintained from her column The Country that debating these ideas only amplifies them, because giving them visibility normalizes them.
The linguist adds that far-right speeches work through media contagion, and even when they are absurd, their visibility makes them familiar, which reduces social resistance to them and allows these ideas to contaminate broad political discourse. This amplification turns marginal voices into legitimate interlocutors, he laments, which distorts public debate and can “varnish” conservative positions with an appearance of common sense.
In turn, the also renowned linguist Violeta Vázquez Rojas adds from her column in Millennium that the argument of not giving forums to ideas that we do not want to grow in public opinion is common sense, since in this way we do not contribute to their dissemination. But he adds “the extravagant ideas of the radical right – and its style: insult, slander, open denigration, so unworthy of public debate -, as well as those of the traditional right, have their own forums to spread, including entire television channels, their own and powerful – although inorganic – social networks and most of the opinion columns of the major newspapers.”
In short, in the end it does not matter if we do not reproduce those ideas in morning conferences, social networks, public media, independent journalism sites or small companies in the ecosystem that still serves as a counterweight to the large corporate, audiovisual and written media. And it doesn’t matter because they have enough capacity to reproduce them.
The discussion is broad and, as Vázquez Rojas points out, “reason is not completely on one side, nor is it totally absent on the other,” but it is also true that silence can become complicity. The challenge for the media is not to remain silent, but to contextualize, dismantle narratives, display interests and offer the audience the tools to understand the background.
What to do in the face of the panorama that these cases expose? meditates the scorpion. Mexico needs media that are spaces of verification, context and plurality, not echo chambers or sounding boards. First, verification must be strengthened: the media requires specialized teams that contrast data, document chronologies and distinguish facts from rumors. Second, making editorial processes transparent: explaining what is known, what remains to be confirmed, and how errors are corrected strengthens credibility. Third, diversifying voices: giving space to critical, academic and citizen perspectives allows us to counteract the hegemony of actors with economic or political power. And we have to start now, because if it seems difficult today, tomorrow will be worse, the scorpion philosophizes.
@Aladelagarza
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