Mexico City, Mexico — With the goal of counteracting what Mexico’s president refers to as fake news, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has begun a weekly report that will be presented each Wednesday.
AMLO offered his first fake news presentation yesterday where he clarifies false or heightened news circulating on social and media as he seeks to “let there be ethics in journalism,” he said adding that his reports are for the benefit of the collective interest.
The president warned that Mexico is experiencing a critical moment in the history of journalism and said that he trusts that changes will arise in the way of informing the country to do so with objectivity, balance and professionalism.
“That there is no slander, that there are no lies. That they inform with the truth and that they be as distant as possible from political and economic influence and as close as possible to the people,” he stressed.
He affirmed that unlike previous six-year terms, the Government of the Fourth Transformation guarantees freedom of expression. There is no censorship and the entire population has access to public information.
“There are full freedoms and this is very good for consolidating democracy. (…) We are moving towards a better society and information management is very important,” he remarked while explaining his “Who’s Who in the Lies of the Week”.
He explained that the goal is to publicize lies that are disseminated in conventional media and on social networks so that people have the correct information and the country has a more conscious citizenry, not susceptible to manipulation.
The “Who is Who in the Lies of the Week” will be presented by journalist Ana Elizabeth García Vilchis. It was not disclosed if she holds a position with the Government of Mexico.
During the first session, topics discussed included the espionage of journalists by federal officials, the contracting of 35 million vaccines from CanSino to a shell company, the risk of the Laguna Verde Plant on the excess of radioactive waste and the alleged incursion of the National Guard into the seizure of the facilities at the University of the Americas in Puebla.
García Vilchis used adjectives that included “rigged news”, “mass reproduction of content” and “honorable mentions” in reference to media and some of its journalists. López Obrador said that no one should feel offended since the general interest is above personal interest.
