IMER was established in 1983 and operates today a total of 17 open-to-air stations scattered in nine Mexican states (Baja California, Mexico City, Chihuahua, Chiapas, Sonora, Oaxaca, Michoacan, Coahuila and Yucatán), as well as two exclusively online radio stations.
Media assets
Radio: XHIMER-FM, XHOF-FM, XHIMR-FM, XEDTL-AM, XEMP-AM, XEB-AM, XEQK-AM (Mexico City); XHUAN-FM (Tijuana, Baja California); XHFQ-FM (Cananea, Sonora); XHRF-FM (Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila); XHUAR-FM (Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua); XHLAC-FM (Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán); XHSCO-FM (Salina Cruz, Oaxaca); XHEMIT-FM (Comitán, Chiapas); XHCAH-FM (Cacahoatán, Chiapas); XHCHZ-FM (Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas); XHYUC-FM (Mérida, Yucatán)
State Media Matrix Typology: Independent State-Funded and State-Managed (ISFM)
Ownership and governance
IMER is a federal government body. According to article 1 of its statute, IMER is a “decentralized agency of the Federal Public Administration, with its own legal personality and assets, and with a mission to provide the service of broadcasting, as an activity of public interest, as well as to support the Secretariat of Public Education in the managing of the radio stations belonging to the Federal Government, excluding those which depend on other State Secretariats.”
IMER is directly subordinated to the Ministry of Education and its Director General is appointed by the President of the Republic.
Source of funding and budget
IMER’s budget depends to a large extent on state funds allocated by the government every year. Out of the 17 open-to-air stations that IMER operates, 10 have public service licences and seven have commercial use licences. IMER is allowed to sell advertising for the seven commercial stations that it runs. However, the ad revenues generated by these stations can’t even cover the rent of the channels’ studios. The annual budget of IMER in 2022 was a total of MXN 268.7m (US$ 13.2m), most of it coming from the government. The state allocation in 2022 increased significantly compared to the previous year.
Editorial independence
In IMER’s case, it is the government that defines the direction of the broadcaster. However, no evidence of editorial control of IMER’s stations by the government has been identified in the past five years. n the contrary, in recent years, IMER has been criticized by authorities for its critical tone. Exasperated by IMER’s critical content, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in June 2023 described IMER as a “tendentious and conservative” media outlet.
There is no regulation or law that grants IMER full autonomy (as it is the case with other public media in the country such as SPR or Notimex). IMER has a Statute that defines its internal functioning, as well as a Code of Ethical Values, which establishes, among other aspects, that the editorial content of IMER’s radio stations should seek to “reflect the diversity and plurality of the country”, as well as to maintain a “fair balance of the sources of information and give a voice as much as possible to most of the parties involved.”
However, these documents do not establish the independence of the station.
IMER has an Ombudsman, a Code of Ethics and also a Citizen Council whose main mission is to represent the civil society in IMER to ensure the editorial independence of the station, citizen participation and the free expression of ideological, ethnic and cultural diversity in the 18 stations run by IMER.
August 2023