Journalism in Mexico: interview with Rogelio Villarreal

“The President (of the Republic) spends hours disqualifying, exposing or insulting journalists who do not agree with his policies”. Photo: courtesy / Manuel Zavala

Rogelio Villarreal is a Mexican independent journalist, who for more than 45 years has focused his career on the cultural area. In 1975, he began studying journalism at the Faculty of Political Sciences at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Although he did not complete his degree, he began his activities as a journalist, while working as a proofreader and, later, as an editor and cultural promoter.

Since the 1980s he has been writing for cultural media, having founded three magazines, edited many others, and organized and participated in activities in the sector. Villarreal is the author of the books Fotografía, Arte y Publicidad (1979), Aspectos de la Fotografía en México (1981), Cuarenta y 20 (2000), El dilema de Bukowski (2004), El Periodismo Cultural en Tiempos de la Globalifobia (2006), Sensacional de Contracultura (2009), El Tamaño del Ridículo (2009) and ¿Qué hace usted en un Libro como Éste? (2015).

Recently, Villarreal was distinguished creator emeritus by the Secretariat of Culture of the State of Jalisco. Currently he combines his roles as writer, journalist, and director of Replicante magazine with his teaching activities at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (Iteso). Read more in the interview below.