“I always aspired to be a journalist; to investigate and inform. I planned to study. As I did at the National University to become an Architect, my brother Abraham. I discovered that neither there nor in any other House of Studies was journalism taught. I chose to enroll in the Faculty of Jurisprudence. Studying law opened many horizons. It gave prestige. It denoted seriousness and knowledge. Culture and vision of the country and the world. I was urged to work. Contribute to the family economy. Don David Zabludowsky – my father – found it difficult. His business – purchasing and selling rags in markets – supported us with evident hardship. I went to look for my announcer’s license. I got a job at the station minute. An hour later my throat was a mess and I had a few pesos in my bag. I advertised everything. One day they paid me with a cage of gelatins. My mother was disconcerted when she saw the display case. There were some very famous ones. “Rosa” her chain of establishments that sold them. Doctors prescribed them…
Story by Jacobo Zabludowsky summarizing decades of work. “I have the rank of President of Televisa News. I fulfilled my desire and curiosity: What will it feel like to be president? And I discovered: Nothing! I attribute it to my long – long – route. From below, from the beginning, little by little, step by step. Nobody sponsored me. Nobody protected me. I learned and I learn. Decades in news writing. For radio. And of course! For television. That progress lacked dizziness. And the days when I had no money to pay for maternity when one of my children was born to my situation today…
At this point Gustavo Durán de Huerta – Excelsior photographer – dropped his camera. He filled Jacobo with intense emotion. So much so that he left his desk and took refuge in a corner of his “boss” office at Televisa.
Time of intense emotion – of harsh testing – that preceded the creation of “24 HOURS”. Nightly newscast. Hour and a half of news. The world on TV. Correspondents around the planet. Old acquaintances -Jesús Hermida-, fresh personalities -Yolanda Sánchez- Tested, proven professionalism -Erika Wexler- friendliness and lightness -Joaquín Pelaez- In Jalisco Rocío Villagarcía
And there, to his right, to his left, in front, Félix Cortés Camarillo. At the dawn of thirty years. With his knowledge of the world. Owner of fresh ideas and eternal culture. Able to obtain information here, there, and there. The urgent Disciplined mind; strict. Audacity drove him. Mexican Telesystem could be a communication giant. In the country. And in those of the Spanish Language.
He then concentrated all his efforts on the success of “24 HOURS.” Don Emilio Azcárraga Milmo – energetic, dynamic, ambitious owner of Telesistema Mexicano – observed the development of the project with growing interest:
“Daily news for an hour and a half? News from ten thirty at night until the last minute of the day? Sponsorships? Jacobo assures that Domecq supports him with “his eyes closed.” He has many friends and experience. Nobody tells him It reaches the heels.But.
Don Emilio Azcárraga Milmo imposing in his 40 years. Thriving businessman; visionary. From Jesuit educators in “Baccalaureates”. Fellow student of Fernando, Luis Javier and Alejandro Solana Morales. Hugo and Julio Scherer. Azcárraga, son, heir of the energetic Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta knew what he had on his hands.
“Emilio Azcárraga Milmo built the Aztec State…
“Giant work by Azcárraga and Ramírez Vázquez…
“Nothing about “Emilito” – as Ángel Fernández shouts at him on TV. Don Emilio…
“This “Vasco” – the trailer that Amado Treviño praised him and repeated – has no equal. No one can stop him…
Félix Cortés Camarillo organized the “zero numbers” – model programs of the long-awaited “24 HOURS.” A kind of test. Tests and more tests. “Demonio” they nicknamed Arturo Vega, the producer of the promising news program. The “floor manager” nicknamed “Chimino” moved kilometers of cable. “Zero numbers.” Careful – millimetric, exact – preparation of an informative medium. If it were a newspaper, the Head of Information would highlight its reporters. To “cover” the different “sources” of information. From the Presidency of the Republic to funeral agencies and aid stations. Red Cross and airport. Information that is processed in real time. The one from the information medium. Production, advertising, circulation. To the hands of the speaker,
Félix Cortes Camarillo discovers slight, almost imperceptible changes in his manners. Gestures on his face. His frown deepens. He advances the profile. He tries to listen better. He adjusts his essential glasses with deliberate slowness. Thick frame glasses. As if they were television screens. He enjoys tailored cashmere suits. On Chapultepec Avenue, in front of Televicentro, a tailor offers his experience in tailoring. “He makes clothes for the trio,” they tell him. “He transforms them into real idiots” -he criticizes. He does not slacken his work routine. No way! He almost imitates – follows the example of Zablidiwsky. Early riser, punctual. “I get up at five in the morning. At the same time that Fortune, Luck, appears. At five past five the offer is over. You have to get up early. Like Don Quixote,” Jacobo pontificated.
Félix Cortés Camarillo listened very attentively. He found out…
TO BE CONTINUE. TO BE CONTINUE