According to legend, one Guadalajara newspaper began printing headlines of these stories in red in 1889 in order to indicate that the story was about a murder and provoke horror in potential readers. Nota roja sheet with illustration by José Guadalupe Posadaīy the 19th century, the term “ nota roja” came to refer to violent crimes, especially murders by the beginning of the 19th century. Announcements and decrees of such were posted publicly on streets and plazas of New Spain as well, having red seals ( notas rojas) to indicate the approval of ecclesiastic authorities. Inquisitors handed out brutal and often public punishments. But the name is most likely linked to the Mexican Inquisition. The origin of this kind of news has been linked to the tecpuyutl ( Aztec town criers for the nobility) as well as the cordel literature of 16th century Spain. The narration of modern nota roja is simple, brief and without commentary on the meaning of the event.

Headlines are written to grab attention, and often have elements of exaggeration and melodrama, printed simply in bright or contrasting colors. Text and headlines are crude and show little concern for the privacy of people being depicted. Images in these photos have included severed heads on nightclub dance floors, people run over by cars, bodies floating in rivers and drains, human bones on farms and in ravines and people ritually tortured by Satanists or drug cartels. Nota roja focuses on the physical and emotional toll of events, combining graphic images and sensationalist narration, with photography far more graphic than what is shown in the media in the U.S. News stories of this type target the lower social classes, mostly in Mexico and other parts of Latin America. News of this type can be found as single sheet announcements, sections of newspapers, entire newspapers and magazines and television. However, natural disasters can also be covered. It is a type of sensational journalism or yellow journalism, defined by its focus exclusively on stories involving physical violence usually occasioned by robbery, murder, tragic accidents, imprisonment and executions.

Nota roja literally means “red note” or “red news”. The genre has also influenced writing and cinema in Mexico as well as prompted criticisms that it promotes and commercializes violence. Today, entire newspapers are devoted to nota roja stories and have infiltrated television as well. The need to provoke emotion in the stories continued into the 20th century, but the introduction of photography in journalism changed both the illustration and text of the stories, with photographs, especially gory ones, dominating nota roja pages and text diminishing to bare facts and violent words. Both were meant to provoke emotion and sensationalism. With the development of the newspaper industry in that century, news of this type developed long, very detailed stories, which might have a graphic image to artistically depict the event.

By the 19th century, the term came to be used for violent crime, especially murder. The origin of the name is most likely related to the Mexican Inquisition, where a red stamp was placed on orders for execution or other punishments.

While similar to more general sensationalist or yellow journalism, the nota roja focuses almost exclusively on stories related to physical violence related to crime, accidents and natural disasters. “red note” or “red news”) is a journalism genre popular in Mexico. Front page of La Prensa with story about an accident

La nota roja