TABLE OF CONTENTS Video Summary Related Content Video
TABLE OF CONTENTS Video Summary & Related Content Video Review Before Viewing While Viewing Talk Prompts After Viewing The Story Activity #1: Tara Singh Hayer – Murdered Canadian Journalist Activity #2: The Risky Business of Journalism Sources CREDITS News in Review is produced by CBC NEWS and curio. ca GUIDE Writer/Editor: Sean Dolan Additional editing: Michaël Elbaz VIDEO Host: Michael Serapio Senior Producer: Jordanna Lake Packaging Producer: Marie-Hélène Savard Associate Producer: Francine Laprotte Supervising Manager: Laraine Bone Visit www. curio. ca/newsinreview for an archive of all previous News In Review seasons. As a companion resource, go to www. cbc. ca/news for additional articles. CBC authorizes reproduction of material contained in this guide for educational purposes. Please identify source. News In Review is distributed by: curio. ca | CBC Media Solutions © 2018 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation 3 4 5 6 8 11 13 19 20 22
CERTAIN DEATH: A Mexican Journalist Fights Deportation Video duration – 14: 42 When Mexican journalist Emilio Gutiérrez Soto fled his home country with his son back in 2008 he thought his ordeal was over. Mexico is known to have one of the highest murder rates of reporters in the world — just behind war zones like Syria and Afghanistan. Journalists are killed there at a rate of about one per month according to Reporters Without Borders. Gutiérrez Soto had been targeted for a story he wrote exposing corruption in the military. He knew he had to run. He and his son went to the United States where he applied for asylum. Now, a decade later he is being threatened with deportation back to Mexico which would mean certain death. The CBC’s Adrienne Arsenault went to a detention centre in Texas to talk to him about his ordeal. RELATED CONTENT • The Mohamed Fahmy Story: 400 Days Classroom Favourites • Mohamed Fahmy: Half Free • News in Review, March 2018 – Trump vs. the Media: The War on Journalism curio. ca/newsinreview /3
VIDEO REVIEW curio. ca/newsinreview /4
BEFORE VIEWING Work with a partner and answer the following questions: 1. Why would you consider journalism to be a dangerous profession? 2. What kind of stories could put a journalist at odds with the government, the military, organizations, corporations or dangerous individuals? 3. What specific dangers might a Canadian journalist face if they write a controversial or contentious story? 4. How much more dangerous would it be for a journalist in Afghanistan, Syria or Iraq? Certain Death: A Mexican Journalist Fights Deportation curio. ca/newsinreview /5
WHILE VIEWING 1. Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto is a journalist from: a) Mexico b) Syria c) Afghanistan 2. Gutiérrez-Soto asked for asylum in the U. S. because the Canadian miltary had threatened to kill him. TRUE or FALSE? 3. Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto found himself in the crosshairs of the Mexican authorities because: a) He criticized the president of Mexico. b) He challenged the drug cartels. c) He exposed corruption in the Mexican military. d) He sought asylum in the U. S. 4. Gutiérrez-Soto knew he was in trouble when he was threatened by an army general, had his home broken into and noticed he was under surveillance by the Mexican military. TRUE OR FALSE? Certain Death: A Mexican Journalist Fights Deportation curio. ca/newsinreview /6
5. According to lawyer Carlos Spector, what would happen to Gutiérrez-Soto if he returned to his home in Chihuahua, Mexico? a) He would be welcomed as a hero. b) He would resume his job as a journalist. c) He would be homeless because all of his possessions were taken by the government. d) He would be killed by the military. 6. Mexico is among the safest countries in the world for journalists. TRUE or FALSE? 7. In July 2018, Gutiérrez-Soto and his son Oscar were: a) Sent back to Mexico. b) Released from U. S. detention while a judge ruled on their asylum case. c) Assassinated by the Mexican military. d) Given asylum in Canada. Certain Death: A Mexican Journalist Fights Deportation curio. ca/newsinreview /7
TALK PROMPTS NEW curio. ca/newsinreview /8
TALK PROMPT #1 Consider pausing the video and giving students the opportunity to talk to an elbow partner for a few minutes or use these questions as part of a class discussion. Pause the video after Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto says, “This is something that fills me with pain, and I cry every day. And I hope that someday he will understand. ” 1. Why is Gutiérrez-Soto seeking asylum in the United States? 2. What is he afraid of? 3. Why has the U. S. government thrown him and his son into an immigration detention centre? Certain Death: A Mexican Journalist Fights Deportation curio. ca/newsinreview /9
TALK PROMPT #2 Pause the video after Adrienne Arsenault’s discussion with lawyer Carlos Spector. 1. Does Gutiérrez-Soto have reason to fear for his life? 2. Why are many citizens of the U. S. ambivalent to the plight of Gutiérrez-Soto and his son? TALK PROMPT #3 Play the video through to the end and consider the following questions as a class – 1. Why is it so dangerous to be a journalist in Mexico? 2. Describe the demeanor of journalist Sandra Rodriguez Nieto when she is asked to talk at length about the persecution of journalists in Mexico. How has she changed the way she reports on corruption? 3. What development happened in July 2018 to change things for Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto and his son Oscar? Certain Death: A Mexican Journalist Fights Deportation curio. ca/newsinreview / 10
AFTER VIEWING During the video, immigration lawyer Carlos Spector says, “It’s traumatizing to be locked up when you’ve not committed a crime. ” Did you consider this perspective when you heard the story of Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto and his son Oscar? Why does their incarceration – despite having never committed a criminal act – make their story even more controversial? Certain Death: A Mexican Journalist Fights Deportation curio. ca/newsinreview / 11
In Mexico there is no protection for journalists. The judge's opinion, to say that we could be protected in Mexico, is crazy. I would like to see him spend a weekend in Ciudad Juárez, without protection, so he can see how serious and irresponsible his actions are by denying us asylum. – Emilio Gutiérrez Soto, Mexican journalist
THE STORY From hero to detainee Journalist Emilio Gutiérrez. Soto was finally feeling pretty good about his decade-old asylum application. His case had received nationwide attention in the U. S. thanks to the National Press Club’s efforts to put his situation into the spotlight. He even received an award from the outfit. In his acceptance speech, he thanked the National Press Club and criticized the U. S. for its failure to process asylum claims in a timely manner. Two months later, when Gutiérrez. Soto and his son Oscar were checking in with immigration officials, they were issued a deportation order and put in a vehicle bound for Mexico. Only a last second injunction saw Gutiérrez-Soto and his son diverted to an immigration Certain Death: A Mexican Journalist Fights Deportation detention centre and away from his persecutors in Mexico. The journalist went from press hero to immigration detainee in the blink of an eye. curio. ca/newsinreview / 13
In the crosshairs So what brought Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto away from his life as a journalist and into the crosshairs of the U. S. immigration system? Well, it all started in 2005 in his home state of Chihuahua. Gutiérrez-Soto was investigating a story involving a series of assaults and robberies where the victims reported that the perpetrators were wearing Mexican military uniforms. After his newspaper published the story, he was summoned by local military officials to a meeting. When Gutiérrez-Soto arrived, he was led into a room with about 20 soldiers and was directed by General Alfonso Garcia Vega to stop pursuing the story and to publicly apologize for what he had written. “By the Staff” Gutiérrez-Soto conferred with his bosses at the newspaper and the decision was made to continue to report on the issue but to sign the stories “By the Staff. ” He knew that Certain Death: A Mexican Journalist Fights Deportation he was still in a risky situation. He had what he considered to be an identifiable writing style and, since he had already been reporting on the Mexican military, it wouldn’t be too difficult for those opposed to his perspective — that a corrupt military was going after civilians — to target him. Asylum in the U. S. And target him they did. In May 2008, after publishing a curio. ca/newsinreview / 14
series of stories on military corruption, Gutiérrez-Soto and his then 14 -year-old son Oscar were awoken in the middle of the night by a group of soldiers who burst into their home, claiming they were conducting a search for drugs and weapons. Of course, they didn’t find anything. Shortly after the military raid, Gutiérrez-Soto received word from a credible source that an elite military hit squad was working out the final details of a plan to kill him. Enough was enough – Gutiérrez-Soto and his son made their way to the border, entering into the U. S. at a New Mexico crossing. He immediately declared asylum status and was put in detention while the authorities reviewed his application. In early 2009 he was released on parole and, for years, he and his son made routine trips to the immigration office to check in regarding their asylum application. Then, in July 2017, a Texas immigration judge ruled against Gutiérrez-Soto’s asylum claim. He said that the journalist “could reasonably avoid the harm he fears by relocating to another part of Mexico. ” Gutiérrez-Soto and his lawyers appealed the ruling, saying the journalist According to Reporters Without Borders, 11 Mexican journalists were killed in 2017. Some estimates put the number as high as 15. Certain Death: A Mexican Journalist Fights Deportation curio. ca/newsinreview / 15
faced certain death if he went back to Mexico. It was while they were awaiting the appeal that he experienced the run-in with immigration authorities that saw him nearly deported and eventually incarcerated a second time. “Tone it down” While Emilio and Oscar Gutiérrez-Soto languished in a U. S. immigration detention centre, people worked feverishly to secure his release. It appeared they had a strong case. National Press Club president Bill Mc. Carren was able to drum up support among the U. S. press. He also gave sworn testimony that immigration officials told him to “tone it down when it came to Certain Death: A Mexican Journalist Fights Deportation the Gutiérrez-Soto case – something the government flatly denied. Meanwhile, lawyers for Emilio Gutiérrez. Soto were able to unearth evidence that the Mexican journalist was on an immigration “target list” before his asylum claim was denied, and before he was nearly shipped back to the country where death awaited him and his son. Eventually, the International Human Rights Clinic at Rutgers University filed a writ of habeas corpus, calling for the curio. ca/newsinreview / 16
immediate release of Emilio and Oscar Gutiérrez-Soto. Just hours before a U. S. federal judge was to hear evidence in the case, the two men were released pending the outcome of their asylum appeal. And so, Gutiérrez-Soto, along with his son, wait. Targeted for death in Mexico and treated like a criminal in the U. S. , the journalist — who did nothing other than report on corruption and call out for justice — continues to live in limbo. It’s been over 10 years since this whole episode began. TO CONSIDER 1. Why did Emilio Gutiérrez. Soto and his son leave Mexico? 2. Why did the U. S. refuse his asylum application? 3. How did Emilio Gutiérrez. Soto avoid deportation? How did his lawyers manage to get his asylum application put back on the U. S. immigration agenda? Certain Death: A Mexican Journalist Fights Deportation curio. ca/newsinreview / 17
ACTIVITY #1 : Tara Singh Hayer – Murdered Canadian Journalist Tara Singh Hayer wrote a story specifically identifying the people he thought were responsible for the worst terrorist attack in Canadian history — the bombing of Air India Flight 182. The bombing killed 329 people, most of whom were Canadians. Hayer said he overheard one of the perpetrators confess to being part of the conspiracy to bring down the plane, and he used his newspaper, the Indo. Canadian Times, to make the story public. Shortly after publishing the story, a young man came into Hayer’s office and shot him, leaving him paralyzed. For the next 10 Certain Death: A Mexican Journalist Fights Deportation years, Hayer wrote about violent Sikh extremism in Canada, resulting in ongoing death threats against the journalist. Finally, in 1998, Hayer was shot dead at home in his garage as he was transitioning from his vehicle into his wheelchair. To date, no one has been charged in the murder of Tara Singh Hayer. curio. ca/newsinreview / 18
Conduct some research into the death of Tara Singh Hayer. Let the following questions guide your research: • What story did Hayer tell that ultimately got him killed? • Who did he anger and why did they feel the need to strike back? • What could have been done to protect him? • Why has no one been charged in the murder of Tara Singh Hayer? Share your discoveries with a partner and be prepared to share your conclusions with the class. • How did the police respond to the death threats issued against Hayer? Certain Death: A Mexican Journalist Fights Deportation curio. ca/newsinreview / 19
ACTIVITY #2 : The Risky Business of Journalism Between 1992 and 2018, almost 1 400 journalists were killed around the world. Here are the statistics* for the past six years: 2013 73 2014 61 2015 73 2016 50 2017 46 2018 45 * Source: Committee to Protect Journalists Year Journalists killed Forty-five journalists were killed around the world to date. Probably the most famous murder case involved Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabian journalist working in exile for the Washington Post. Khashoggi was tortured and murdered shortly after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey on October 2, 2018. He chose exile in the U. S. after being fired from a Saudi newspaper for criticizing Certain Death: A Mexican Journalist Fights Deportation the national government. While at the Post, he continued his criticism, drawing the ire of the Saudi royal family and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in particular. While Saudi authorities denied killing the journalist (telling Khashoggi’s fiancé that he left the embassy and she must have missed him), a preponderance of evidence eventually surfaced confirming the murder. curio. ca/newsinreview / 20
Overwhelmed by the global attention on the Khashoggi case, Saudi authorities eventually admitted that the journalist was killed inside the consulate. They claimed to have fired five consulate staff and arrested 15 others in connection to the murder. YOUR TASK • Go to www. cpj. org/data/ killed/2018/ • Research the death of one of the journalists who lost their life in 2018. Note to teachers: killed You will need to create a Google Slides or Power. Point presentation for your students. Power. Point can also be used. Ensure that no two students research the same journalist. Also encourage students to avoid the grisly details related to some of the murders. • Your teacher will create a Google Slides or Power. Point presentation and invite you to add to the document. • Prepare a slide outlining the death of the journalist you selected. Include an image of the journalist and the reason(s) why they were Certain Death: A Mexican Journalist Fights Deportation • Review your class Google Slides presentation and answer the following question in a thoughtful 7 -10 sentence paragraph: Ø Why is journalism such a dangerous profession? curio. ca/newsinreview / 21
SOURCES Aguilar, Julián. (July 12, 2018). Federal judge wants to know if Mexican reporter and son were needlessly targeted by ICE. The Texas Tribune. Retrieved from: www. texastribune. org/2018/07/12/judge-asks-whether-mexican-reporter-son-were-needlessly-targetedice/ Coll, Steve. (May 3, 2018). After ten years, a journalist who fled Mexico faces deportation. The New Yorker. Retrieved from: www. newyorker. com/news/daily-comment/after-ten-years-a-journalist-who-fled-mexico-faces-deportation Committee to Protect Journalists. https: //cpj. org/ Erickson, Amanda. (October 9, 2018). 2018 has been a brutal year for journalists, and it keeps getting worse. The Washington Post. Retrieved from: www. washingtonpost. com/world/2018/10/09/has-been-brutal-year-journalists-it-keeps-gettingworse/? utm_term=. e 2 fa 8668 b 725 Goodman, Amy and Denis Moynihan. (August 4, 2018). Mexican journalist’s case shows the cruelty of Trump’s immigration crackdown. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved from: https: //chicago. suntimes. com/immigration/mexican-journalists-case-shows-thecruelty-of-trumps-immigrant-crackdown/ Merrifield, Carmen. (June 29, 2018). ‘Every day here we are waiting to die’: Mexican journalist detained in U. S. fears for life. CBC News. Retrieved from: www. cbc. ca/news/world/emilio-Gutiérrez-soto-oscar-us-immigration-ice-asylum-1. 4713126 Certain Death: A Mexican Journalist Fights Deportation curio. ca/newsinreview / 22
SOURCES, continued Ortiz Uribe, Monica. (August 2, 2018). Mexican journalist released, awaits asylum appeal. National Public Radio (NPR). Retrieved from: www. npr. org/2018/08/02/634919239/mexican-journalist-released-awaits-asylum-appeal Stapleton, Sally. (April 12, 2018). 13 years of living dangerously, Mexican journalist Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto remains detained by ICE. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved from: www. post-gazette. com/news/nation/2018/04/12/Emilio-Gutiérrez-Soto-journalistdetention-Mexico-asylum-ICE/stories/201804120006 Certain Death: A Mexican Journalist Fights Deportation curio. ca/newsinreview / 23
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