Jorge Mettey. After a long career he became one of the most important news executives in the country. Here with President Barack Obama. (Facebook)
Jorge Mettey was only four years old when his father passed away.
With vague memories in his mind, he recalls seeing María Luisa Carvajal, his mother, ‘chingándole’ all the time to support her four children.
“She worked at a bank, behaved like a true lady. She mourned my father for eight years, dressed in mourning attire all the time,” says Mettey, former news director of KMEX Channel 34 of the Univisión network and a legend in communications in the United States and Mexico.
“I don’t remember many things; I don’t know if I was aware of what was happening,” he adds.
Jorge Mettey led Channel 34 during one of the most successful seasons for the network, winning numerous awards in the country for their innovative news coverage, social campaigns, and the highest ratings for any news program in the country, regardless of language.
“I think that’s why I’m such a feminist and I adore the role of women, because of the example my mother set for me,” he says.
Born in the city of Puebla, Mexico, he had to learn about limitations from a young age. They attended a private school, and essential purchases were made only once a year.
“I had a happy childhood; it was a different time. I used to play with my friends by the river, but when it came to resources, we were limited. We went shopping for clothes once a year, and you had to be careful not to tear your pants during that time,” he says, laughing.
Jorge Mettey was a voracious reader from childhood; an illness confined him to bed for a year, and he developed a love for reading.
“I read everything; I loved Julio Verne, but I always knew I wanted to work in television news, even as a child. People used to joke when they saw me with a pretend microphone, giving the news or interviewing people,” he adds.
After a few years, his mother decided to remarry, and the family had to move. If he could have been dissatisfied at first, he didn’t know then that his mother’s decision would shape his entire life.
“Bianca lived next to ours; she was nine years old at the time. That day, I fell in love with the woman who has been with me all my life,” says a proud Mettey.
“I remember that day very well; it was September 15, 1973. We moved to these new buildings, some horizontal condominiums. Bianca lived next to ours; she was nine years old at the time. That day, I fell in love with the woman who has been with me all my life,” says a proud Mettey.
“I knew it from the moment I saw her. I remember talking to her mom, and I felt someone touching my back playfully. She did it constantly, but ‘me hacía el guey’, I turned around, and there she was,” he says.
Despite being very young, they soon took their relationship seriously. Mettey would leave love letters in her mailbox at night, and she would collect them in the mornings.
“Before I met her, I was a child with excellent grades. Afterward, I slipped a bit. Instead of getting a ten, I would get an eight or eight and a half. Her father would leave the house at six in the morning. One day, he opened the mailbox and found the letters. It wasn’t a big fuss, but her mom asked us to call each other by different names, not to identify ourselves as a couple,” he recalls happily.
He was never one of those kids who watched cartoons; inclined toward reading, he occasionally watched the news. But his true passion was Luis Spota; from a young age, he made it his mission to read all of Spota’s work.
These details might sound ordinary, but it can be pointed out that all these interests were shaping the critical and social awareness that later determined his commitment to social issues.
Shortly after, his life would take another turn; the entire family would move to Mexico City.
“Of course, I made a scene. I have always been very vocal; I protested, begged, I asked my mom why they hadn’t consulted me. She ended the conversation by saying that they made those decisions, she and my stepfather,” he recalls.
Jorge Mettey tried to adjust to his new life, his new surroundings, his studies in high school, and his new neighborhood.
“And the first weekend after our arrival came. I packed a suitcase and went to see my mom. I told her, ‘I’m leaving.’ Surprised, she asked me where I was going. I replied that it was the weekend and I was going to see Bianca in Puebla. She told my stepfather to take me to the bus terminal; he wanted to go see Bianca,” he says as if he were reliving those days.
They asked him how much money he needed, and thus began his first trip to see his girlfriend. He repeated this experience the second weekend, and by the third, they forbade him from going. They weren’t going to allow that situation to continue.
“It was a very lovely time. Imagine, we met when she was nine and I was thirteen, we became a couple, all like in those times; we talked, held hands, listened to music. When I moved, and on that third weekend when I was prohibited from traveling, it was my first breakup,” Jorge Mettey says.
When the high school years came, that love and conviction that they wanted to be together did not fade.
“I saved the money they gave me for lunch all week to go visit her. I had exactly enough money for the round trip fare,” he adds.
Another detail that marked his life is that from a young age, when he had to do a task or a presentation, he concentrated on creating an audiovisual. His destiny in the world of television was very clear.
“I wanted to study law; I knew my destiny was in the world of news, but I thought that by studying that career, I would learn the fundamentals to work with the news,” he mentions.
One day, Jorge Mettey mother-in-law gave him a brochure on one of the many trips to Puebla. She said he really wanted to study a degree offered at the Universidad Iberoamericana. She also promised to introduce him to the well-known journalist Guillermo Ochoa; he could work with him while studying.
However, his mother-in-law died before that happened, but what she did fulfill was his entry into the university and studying Communication Sciences.
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TOMORROW: His beginnings in the television world, his work at RTC, his marriage, and his steps to becoming one of the most important news directors in the United States.
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