Censorship of student newspaper La Catarina
La Catarina was the student newspaper in University of the Americas (UDLA) in Puebla, Mexico. It was founded in February 2000 by UDLA’s Communication Sciences Department and it was first published in March 2000. The paper ran on Wednesdays and was distributed inside campus.
La Catarina was both a community service project and a journalism laboratory. Students were in charge of its content and administration. It is believed that La Catarina was the only student newspaper in Mexico that was entirely done by students for students and free from any university administrative, governmental or economical influence.
On Jan. 17, 2007, UDLA’s administration prevented the publication of the paper and dissolved its editorial board without the staff knowledge. The reason the administration gave for shutting the paper down was its “overly-critical content.”
After a large news spread on local, national and international media about the closure of the newspaper, the then university president, Pedro Ángel Palou, allowed the students to continue publishing and promised them UDLA would not restrain or threaten the publication ever again. He said La Catarina had absolute editorial freedom and independence.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. In August 2007, the paper wasn’t shut down but usurped by the student government after the original staff refused to publish until the administration gave student journalists and information sources a guarantee of free speech and press exercise without punishment or prior restraint.
La Catarina became an institutional newspaper where the interests of the administration and the student government are well kept within its content. The original staff of La Catarina has been implicitly criticized and devaluated in its editorials.
Reflections on student media censorship by former La Catarina’s staff members.
These are links to news-stories about La Catarina’s censorship written from Jan. 17, 2007 to Dec. 6, 2007.
December: Mass Firings at a University in Mexico Could Disrupt Its U.S. Ties, Chronicle of Higher Education
October: Crisis in Mexico: Profs claim mass firings at former study abroad spot
February: Mexican university newspaper returns to students, The Daily O’ Collegian, OSU
January: Stop the presses!, The Daily Skiff, TCU
Mexican partner college administration shuts down student newspaper, The Lamron, Geneseo
Students say Mexican paper was censored, The Harvard Crimson
