Malo moves easily between news events

From Mexico City Bureau Chief Chris Kline

MEXICO CITY -- Clad in yellow and black leather and riding a high-powered motorcycle, Hector Malo is not your typical journalist.

He is one of 17 motorcycle reporters for Radio Red, Mexico City's most popular 24-hour all-news radio station.

"The risk is considerable, but our motorcycles enable us to cover any event. Rain, thunder or lightning, we're working all the time," Malo said.

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The 8 million to 10 million listeners of Radio Red swear by the wheeled journalists, who bring them live on-site coverage of events, especially the city's massive traffic jams.

But Malo is not just a traffic reporter. After filing a report about a broken down truck blocking the road to the airport, he's off to cover a demonstration against poor transportation services. The protest focuses on a person who was run over by a bus driver.

Malo files stories on his cell phone

"We see very difficult things when people lose their lives in such a way that it's hard to see a human being like that ... it's the price of our work," Malo said.

Then he moves on to another protest, where people are calling for the resignation of the city's attorney general. Demonstrators form a human barrier to block traffic. Motorists become furious, and the two sides almost come to blows before the demonstrators give in.

Throughout the confrontation, Malo is the picture of cool professionalism, filing reports via his cellular phone.

"I wouldn't change it for anything. I'm fulfilled by it. I believe I'm helping people, and I asked God for a job where I could help people," he said. "This is it."