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Nota roja


Nota roja (lit. “red note or news”) is a journalism genre popular in Mexico. While similar to more general sensationalist or yellow journalism, the nota roja focuses almost exclusively on stories related to physical violence related to crime, accidents and natural disasters. The origin of the name is most likely related to the Mexican Inquisition, where a red stamp was placed on orders for execution or other punishments. By the 19th century, the term came to be used for violent crime, especially murder. With the development of the newspaper industry in that century, news of this type developed long, very detailed stories, which might have a graphic image to artistically depict the event. Both were meant to provoke emotion and sensationalism. The need to provoke emotion in the stories continued into the 20th century, but the introduction of photography in journalism changed both the illustration and text of the stories, with photographs, especially gory ones, dominating nota roja pages and text diminishing to bare facts and violent words. Today, entire newspapers are devoted to nota roja stories and have infiltrated television as well. The genre has also influenced writing and cinema in Mexico as well as prompted criticisms that it promotes and commercializes violence.

Nota roja literally means “red note or red news.” It is a type of sensational journalism or yellow journalism, defined by its focus exclusively on stories involving physical violence usually occasioned by robbery, murder, tragic accidents, imprisonment and executions. However, natural disasters can also be covered. News of this type can be found as single sheet announcements, sections of newspapers, entire newspapers and magazines and television.

News stories of this type target the lower social classes, mostly in Mexico and other parts of Latin America. Nota roja focuses on the physical and emotional toll of events, combining graphic images and sensationalist narration, with photography far more graphic than what is shown in the media in the U.S. and various other countries. Images in these photos have included severed heads on nightclub dance floors, people run over by cars, bodies floating in rivers and drains, human bones on farms and in ravines and people ritually tortured by Satanists or drug cartels. Text and headlines are crude and show little concern for the privacy of people being depicted. Headlines are written to grab attention, and often have elements of exaggeration and melodrama, printed simply in bright or contrasting colors. The narration of modern nota roja is simple, brief and without commentary on the meaning of the event.


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