The first SRCI station was La Voz de la Montaña (The Voice of the Mountain), which began broadcasting in March 1979, in Tlapa de Comonfort, a municipality located in the state of Guerrero in southwestern Mexico. Today, SRCI operates 22 indigenous radio stations (some AM and FM) across 16 states of the Mexican republic. They air in 35 languages and dialects spoken by the indigenous people that have a presence in the territories covered by the stations.
Media assets
Radio: La Voz de las Huastecas, La Voz de la Costa Chica, La Voz de los Cuatro Pueblos, La Voz de los Vientos, La Voz de la Sierra Norte, La Voz de la Chinantla, La Voz de los Tres Rios, La Voz de la Sierra Juarez, La Voz de los Mayas, La Voz de los P’urhepechas, La Voz de la Mixteca, La Voz del Valle, La Voz de la Sierra Tarahumara, Las Tres Voces de Durango, La Voz de la Frontera Sur, La Voz del Corazón de la Selva, La Voz de la Sierra de Zongolica, La Voz de la Montaña, La Voz del Pueblo Hñähñú, La Voz de los Chontales, La Voz del Gran Pueblo, La Voz de la Sierra Oriente
State Media Matrix Typology: Independent State-Funded and State-Managed (ISFM)
Ownership and governance
The SRCI broadcasters are subordinated to the Radio Department of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples, which in turn depends on the government. The Constitution of Mexico, in article 2, states that the State has an obligation to promote “conditions for indigenous peoples and communities to acquire, operate and administer the media, in terms determined by the laws of the matter”. These frequencies are operated by the State.
Source of funding and budget
The SRCI stations depend on government funds allocated to them by the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples. Although these are radios with significant audiences in the communities where they broadcast, their budget is very limited. The most recent figures show that SRCI receives a state allocation worth MXN 13m (US$ 614,000) a year. Of that amount, on average, each broadcaster spends some MXN 590,000 (US$ 27,000) a year.
Editorial independence
The proximity of indigenous communities to the SRCI’s broadcasters usually prevents their editorial content from becoming propaganda. The public, if offended by the content aired by these broadcasters, often go to the radio stations in person to protest as these broadcasters are located in small communities and have permanent contact with the population.
As part of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples, SRCI is dependent on the federal government, but has some internal regulations, including a code of conduct and various provisions regarding its rules of operation. They, however, do not qualify as a statute that establishes the independence of the stations.
SRCI has a code of ethics that was updated in March 2018. It also has an Ombudsman, as required by the telecommunications and broadcasting law of 2014.
August 2023