Misogyny in a Matter of Minutes

Air personality quits live on air after Chihuahua radio station group owner makes more sexist comments

The owner of a group of Chihuahua radio stations is coming in for serious criticism — and down an employee — after another sexist remark on his radio stations’ flagship program prompted a female host and 12-year station employee to quit and walk out live on air.

The interaction occurred Saturday toward the end of Cuestión de Minutos, the flagship news and public affairs program of Grupo BM Radio produced at the company’s XHDP-FM “La Ranchera de Cuauhtémoc” in Ciudad Cuauhtémoc, and hosted by the owner, Israel Beltrán Montes, two-time mayor of the city and a former federal deputy on two occasions. This program airs across the group.

The woman on the right, Brenda Chacón, reads a rather mundane greeting for a woman’s 22nd birthday “on behalf of her mother”. Beltrán Montes corrects her and says that the woman would not have turned 22 without her mother and really is “22 years and nine months old”.

After being “corrected”, and another remark from Beltrán Montes, Chacón snaps. “Nothing’s missing. If you’d like, sir… in this moment, I’m leaving the station. No fuss at all.” She picks up and shuffles her papers, sets down her headphones, and leaves the studio as Beltrán Montes moves on to another news item and Francisco Javier González Chacón, XHDP’s news director, looks on in silence. Chacón had worked 12 years at BM Radio.

It’s not the first time that Beltrán Montes has made offensive remarks on his program. Back in April, he mocked the March women’s strike by quipping, “I thought their legs would go on strike”:

But this Saturday’s incident has resulted in calls for action. The Chihuahua Women’s Institute, a state government agency, called for the revocation of BM’s concessions:

(More on that in a moment.)

The STIRTT stood up for Chacón and announced it was supporting her in “those actions sufficient and necessary to restore her public and private dignity” while denouncing Beltrán Montes’s statements:

There have also been statements in favor of Chacón and against BM Radio filling comment sections on the La Ranchera de Cuauhtémoc Facebook page.

We have seen stations act against program hosts who have made disrespectful remarks. Earlier this year, it was a guest on XHRMO-FM Hermosillo whose description of a rape as a “fusion of love” attracted national ire and led to the cancellation of the program in question:

Beltrán owns XHJS-FM Hidalgo del Parral, XHNVG-FM Nuevo Casas Grandes, XHOG-FM Ojinaga and XHSBT-FM in San Buenaventura outright, as well as 40 percent of Cuauhtémoc stablemate XHCDH-FM (with the rest held by Ciudad Delicias broadcaster José Luis Chavero Reséndiz). His son Israel Beltrán Zamarrón is the concessionaire of XHJZ-FM in Ciudad Jiménez and XHER-FM, the group’s romantic station in Cuauhtémoc. Gerardo Quezada Vargas is the listed concessionaire of Ojinaga’s XHRCH-FM.

BM Radio used to operate in two additional Chihuahua markets on lease agreements. This corporate video from 2015 shows a larger group, operating at the time through XEJUA-AM 640 Ciudad Juárez (Multimedios) and XHHES-FM 94.1 Chihuahua Capital (Radiorama). At this time, BM had coverage in almost every media market in the state, with the notable exception of Delicias. These were very large markets, and BM ended up pulling out of both:

Calls for revocation will be hard to sustain, as noted in the TV Azteca controversy from earlier this year. However, unlike with the La Voz de Pitic case, there is no owner or management to stop Beltrán Montes because he is the owner of his own group. Pressure will have to come from outside the station if any change occurs.

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