The Hack As Journalist

Manuel Roig-Franzia (thanks, Brady): SAN PEDRO GARZA GARCIA, Mexico — Tinny salsa downbeats jangled out of the flashing cellphone. Mario Salas pressed hard on the clutch, jammed the gearshift into second and wedged the phone between his right ear and shoulder.
"Dime," he said — "Tell me."
"Si," he said. "Si. A bad accident? A really bad one? I'm on my way."
It was 5:15 p.m. in this moneyed suburb of Monterrey– time for Salas to transform. When the call came in, Salas was a taxi driver, prowling the streets for fares in a dented, bright green Ford sedan. But the phone call hurled him into his other identity — hustling TV cameraman.
Salas is a Mexican archetype. In this country, where wages…