"Being a journalist in Mexico can be a death sentence"

Maritza L. Félix is a JSK Community Impact Fellow at Stanford and an independent journalist in Arizona. She is the founder of Conecta Arizona, a news-you-can-use service in Spanish that connects people in Arizona and Sonora, Mexico, primarily through WhatsApp and social media. She is currently a media leader of the Executive Program in News Innovation and Leadership at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism. She is an International Women’s Media Foundation Adelante and Listening Post Collective Fellow and part of Take the Lead’s 50 Women Who Can Change the World of Journalism 2020 cohort. Félix has won five Emmys and is the recipient of the inaugural award for Best Chronicle Written in the United States by Nuevas Plumas. She also has multiple awards from the Arizona Press Club. In 2012 and 2013 the Phoenix New Times newspaper named Félix Best Spanish-Language Journalist in Arizona.

Tell us a little bit about how your journey as a foreign journalist in the US started. 

 This country wasn’t new to me. I was born and raised in Mexico, very close to the border. My family and I used to come to the US at least once a week to go to the supermarket, eat and go shopping. I grew up with tacos and happy meals, speaking English and Spanish and feeling a deep connection with the desert. 

Since I officially  moved to this country, first to Los Angeles, and then to Phoenix, I toured its cities and got lost in them. I asked, I learned, and I discovered. This is how I came to Prensa Hispana, the largest publication in Spanish in Arizona. 

I soon realized that journalism in the US is very different from Mexico. Here as a Latina reporter, I was covering a little bit of everything; in Mexico, I specialized in one topic at the time. I started doing bilingual journalism, reporting in English, and writing in Spanish and trying to understand the mix of cultures that make Arizona a unique state. 

I was fortunate to quickly soak up the laws and the system, to have sources who patiently explained legal issues that I, as a foreigner, did not fully understand.  I was fortunate to specialize in migration, a subject that I knew very well  because I’m an immigrant too. 

I collaborated with almost all the Spanish-language media in Arizona and years later I joined Telemundo. In 2018 I became a freelance journalist and since then I have worked as a producer of special projects, writer, photographer, and reporter for media such as Channel 4 in London, Aljazeera, Discovery Channel, The Nation, Slate, Organización Editorial Mexicana, among others. I am now the founder of a collaborative, cross-border community journalism project called Conecta Arizona.

Love brought me to the US in 2006 on my spouse's visa that later became a work visa. I had a long process and multiple visas: TD, H1B and O1. I was able to self-sponsor for permanent residency through an Eb2. In a couple of years, I hope to finally become a United States citizen.

Why was coming to the US to work as a foreign journalist important for you and your career? 

I am from the border and for us Mexico and the United States are interconnected by many bridges much more powerful than the wall. When I grew up, I did not imagine myself living in this country; I didn't take it into account when I went to college either, but when I got married my perspective changed. Today I have a broader understanding. 

The United States has given me job opportunities that northern Mexico lacks. I have been able to learn from press to television and documentary investigative journalism. I have met wonderful people and received career-boosting scholarships such as the Stanford JSK Community Impact Fellowship at Stanford and the Executive Program in News Innovation and Leadership at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism.

In addition, due to the geographic proximity to Mexico, I also continue to work for my country using my binational and bicultural perspective for the stories that can only be reported after having lived them. I can say that I am a daughter of the desert.

 What are the major difficulties and challenges you faced trying to establish your network and resources in the US as a foreign journalist? 

One of the biggest challenges was the long, stressful, and expensive immigration process. Going from one visa to another, depending on a sponsorship, always being with limits and deadlines and with the uncertainty that the laws were going to change, leaving me in limbo. As a journalist, all I have is my byline and I take great care of it. So, my process was long and sometimes painful. I wanted to do things well and I succeeded. But I’m also aware of my privileges; not everyone has the same luck.

Establishing a network of contacts and resources was easy. It was a matter of spending time getting to know people, paying attention to them, reading their stories and experiences, and letting my work speak for itself. I made connections one at a time and now I can say that I have a wide solid network of contacts. 

The difficult part was reporting in 2010 when SB1070 was enacted and there was another much more challenging environment for Latino journalists in Arizona, especially for women. English is my second language and some politicians made fun of my accent or the pronunciation of certain words, but they always gave me the interview. At times I had to overcome the imposter syndrome that attacks when you are a foreigner, a migrant, working in a different language and looking different from most of your colleagues in the media.

 Could you share with us one or more difficult moments during your journey in the United States during which you learned a valuable lesson? What was the lesson? 

My  personal immigration journey has had a unique impact on my journalism. Living with uncertainty, knowing the system, and understanding the impact of public policies on the quality of life of migrant families helped me to develop a more mature and informed perspective on migration. But there were times when I lost faith, as do so many people who are still on the waiting list without a path to legalization in this country.

Another difficult moment in my career was reporting on unaccompanied migrant children after family separations at the border, just as I became a mom. Here also my perspective changed, and I realized that I had to take care of my mental and emotional health, because I suffered from traumas that I did not know how to handle.

I have been insulted and threatened for working on the border, for speaking Spanish, for my accent and for the stories I write or produce, but in the end, I have learned that my work is valuable and serves to amplify those voices that many refuse to hear.

Maritza L. Félix

 You founded Conecta Arizona. What is it, and how did you envision this initiative to combat misinformation?

Conecta Arizona is an information service that uses multiple platforms - traditional and non-traditional - such as WhatsApp, social networks, radio, and newsletters, to connect the audience with verified information, resources, and news in Spanish. It is a free cross-border service that connects the United States with Mexico.

Every afternoon we have “La Hora del Cafecito” on WhatsApp and that is what I am most proud of: I sit down to chat with the community I serve. We are bringing dialogue back to journalism with difficult but necessary conversations. In addition, I invite experts to help us answer live questions from our listeners.

In just one year, we have debunked more than 300 myths about the pandemic and the border and invited more than 60 experts on health, finance, immigration, education, and other topics relevant to our community.

Conecta Arizona began as a journalistic experiment that has become a benchmark for dialogue and community journalism. We have grown organically and continue to do so.

We have many plans to continue fighting misinformation not only from the pandemic, but from the return to the new normal (whatever that may be) and the most pressing issues for the Spanish-speaking community. We want to give families access to information and news of the same or better quality than what exists in English.

In addition, we have partnerships with the media on both sides of the border, with whom I also collaborate independently, and that enhances Conecta Arizona's content offering.

Maritza L. Félix

Is misinformation one of the greatest threats facing our society at the present? Are journalists equipped with the skills they need to combat the spread of false news through multiple digital platforms? 

Misinformation should concern us. It is spreading fast and has created a pandemic parallel to the coronavirus. It is difficult to identify what is false and what is not, from what is seen on social networks as journalists, sometimes we do not know how to tell the difference. The line is very thin.

It is also a challenge because now we expect each journalist to become an expert in everything: to speak, write and report everything and do it on all platforms, in record time. Although several organizations offer training, the day-to-day journalist always must fight against time. Furthermore, the newsrooms have not allocated sufficient resources to human capital.

What do Americans and the rest of the world not know about being a journalist in Mexico? Can you tell us what makes Mexican media different from American media?

Being a journalist in Mexico can be a death sentence. My Mexican colleagues who practice their profession are still victims of threats and extortion, and the most terrible thing is that society has normalized the attacks. Being a journalist in Mexico is also fighting against poverty and the lack of opportunities, monopolies in the media, and censorship; it is waging a daily battle against corruption, cronyism, and editorial lines manipulated by special interests.

At the same time, journalism in Mexico is flourishing. Being able to tell the stories that would otherwise die, be buried, or be assassinated, to force a change, shine a light on what others want to bury, and show that resilience is the best quality of Mexicans. Yes, Mexican journalism is one of great quality.

In the United States, we are safe, and we have many privileges. We have other obstacles and setbacks such as language, migration, culture, racism, discrimination, but generally, we live and work in peace. But being on this side of the wall, we forget very easily that our lands continue to suffer.

I am a border journalist. I work in the United States, Mexico, and Latin America. I speak English and Spanish. I have the best and the worst of both worlds and I must portray them, and I feel very lucky. ¡Con acento y con talento!

How do you determine if a story is worth reporting?

My definition of journalism has changed a lot during my career. At first, it was all about objectivity and data. It is no longer just that, in fact, I have my reservations with the word objectivity. Now I look for human interest stories. I dedicate my time to propose, create and publish stories that have a direct impact on the community I serve, that amplify voices we have ignored for generations, that propose solutions, that reveal social problems and that disturb my heart. I choose stories that promote dialogue and that change narratives. We have already invested a lot of time in preserving the old school of journalism and I think it is time to change the conversation, redirect it to the audience, and stop assuming what they need. Ask more, inquire more, pry more ... and that's how I choose the stories I work on.

Can you share some tips and advice with the foreign correspondent community? 

 Embrace your diversity and your culture; migrate with it. You don't have to ignore your roots to break ground abroad. It is the melting pot of our traditions that enriches our journalism.

Open your eyes, your ears, and your heart to the stories of the new country. Do not lose the capacity for wonder and do not blink in the face of injustice.

Soak up the local culture, including the mindset that allows you to grow and be successful. In my case, for example, as a Latina, I was raised to always be grateful for opportunities and not to negotiate or stand from a position of power knowing that my work is valuable. 

Be respectful of the laws. If you have an immigration process, do not look for shortcuts that could compromise your journalistic integrity. The only thing we have is our byline and that should not be negotiable or due to legal status.

Learn to say no when stories, jobs, companies, or assignments create personal, mental, or emotional conflict.

Look for opportunities and ask for help. You will be surprised to know that there are many people willing to shake your hand to help you get ahead and help you open doors.

Don't forget your native land. Collaborate, create alliances, and maintain bridges with your roots.

Open the way. There are many who will want to follow in your footsteps and look for opportunities.

Shake off your ego.