Formal Opening and First Question

Mark McDonald formally opened the program with: "Profound changes are happening in Latin America but you would never know it from the mainstream U.S. media." The War on Terror has occupied the U.S. media and international news, especially of Latin America, has been pushed aside.

The panelists were then introduced (please see my links for them on the right). I'm including a highlighted list of what McDonald said:

Carreño - Washington correspondent for El Universal.

Sotero - Alumnus of AU. He's been in the journalism business for nearly 40 years.

Rockwell - Teaching at AU for 10 years and producer for 20 years before that.






McDonald: What is your impression of the U.S. media's coverage of the U.S.?

Carreno: It has really been a hit and miss. It has reduced moments and happenings its smallest expression and has not introduced those movements to the American public and as a matter of fact to the world as it should have been. The American media could help express what can not be expressed in Latin America but in the last few years I'm afraid that role has been dramatically reduced.

Rockwell: I have to agree about the echo chamber. It's like a bull in a china shop.

Sotero: You would be surprised that if i told you the coverage of the business actions in the more specialized newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal, is pretty abundant. They are not positive or negative: they are reports. I would say it's a fair and balanced; I don't have much problem with The New York Times or the L.A. Times for example. It's not anything spectacular. The New York Times has the longest tradition of covering Brazil. Sometimes that irritates dramatically Brazilian dictators.

McDonald: Is Brazil getting an easier ride than other Latin American countries in terms of the U.S. media's negative publications?

Sotero: Yes, because we do not share a border with the U.S. Some of the coverage is just repulsive, it's racist, because of the immigration problem. Sometimes you get stereotypes of Brazilians such as cutting down trees and things but that's not as bad as Mexico.