1000s of students protest media in Mexico

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Thousands of university students marched through central Mexico City on Wednesday to protest media coverage that they say favors the candidate of the former ruling party in upcoming presidential elections.

The students say newspapers and television stations are tilting their coverage toward Enrique Pena Nieto, who is leading polls by double digits ahead of the July 1 vote.

Many of the students were from the elite Iberoamerican University, where a May 11 appearance by Pena Nieto set off a rare wave of protests by young people against a return to the presidency of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which ruled Mexico for 70 years before it was voted out in 2000.

The students say Mexico's largest television channel, Televisa, was particularly biased in its coverage of the rally and the campaign in general. Many finished the march at Televisa's studios, where Pena Nieto was appearing on a live interview show.

Local media reported smaller, simultaneous marches in at least a half-dozen other cities around Mexico.

A Televisa spokesman declined immediate comment, as did Pena Nieto's campaign.

"We want to be told the truth in this country," said Esteban Pacheco, an industrial design student at Iberoamerican. "I look at this as a wake-up call."

Pena Nieto's backers have labeled the students as supporters of leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, but many at the rally said they supported none of three main presidential candidates.

A march through central Mexico City on Saturday drew tens of thousands of protesters against Pena Nieto, a much larger crowd than the one on Tuesday night.