Conservatives hate him. Latinos don’t quite know what to make of him. He is a star of alternative press nationwide. He is Gustavo Arellano.
On Monday afternoon, Arellano came and spoke to journalism professor Chris Karadjov’s senior seminar class on editorial writing.
Arellano is an investigative reporter and columnist with the OC Weekly, as well as a contributing writer with the Los Angeles Times opinion section. He is most famous for his weekly column, “Ask a Mexican,” in which he candidly answers questions from readers about subjects ranging from Mexican culture to immigration and nationalism.
The column was never originally intended to be an ongoing feature with the OC Weekly, Arellano explained to the class. It started off as a joke between him and his editor, and Arellano himself didn’t think that anyone would be interested.
However, the response to the first column was huge: Half the people criticized him for perpetuating stereotypes while the others praised his satirical approach to dealing with issues of race and immigration.
“Originally, we were trying to be as ridiculous as possible,” Arellano said, “the idea being that only in Orange County could a column as ridiculous as this exist.”
“Ask a Mexican” has been running in the OC Weekly, Orange County’s alternative weekly publication, since November of 2004.
Arellano had a lot of sound advice to offer the class of journalism students. He talked about how beat reporting can get boring and how reporters should to keep things interesting by “retelling a story in a completely different way.”
“I can be much more aggressive with ‘Ask a Mexican,'” Arellano said. “I have to be more subdued with the L.A. Times.”
Arellano also talked about how he tries to keep “Ask a Mexican” fresh and interesting for readers. “You have to surprise your readers again and again. Otherwise they get bored. If I did nothing but questions about immigration or if I did nothing but the racist questions, I’d get bored.”
He told the class that his all-time favorite questions were, “Is it true that George Bush’s grandfather stole the head of Poncho Villa?”, and, “What’s with the Mexican obsession with chopped-off body parts?”
Arellano also delved into his frequently asked questions: “Why do Mexicans swim with their clothes on? Why do Mexicans put their names on the back of their trucks? Why do Mexicans like Morrissey so much?”
While most of his columns deal with issues of race or immigration, Arellano said his main focus as a journalist is on Orange County. A native of Anaheim, Arellano said he feels that the major local newspapers don’t devote enough coverage to the county of more than of three million.
