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Building the Fourth Estate: Democratization and the Rise of a Free Press in Mexico
Based on an in-depth examination of Mexico's print and broadcast media over the last twenty-five years, this book is the most richly detailed account available of the role of the media in democratization, demonstrating the reciprocal relationship between changes in the press and changes in the political system. In addition to illuminating the nature of political change in Mexico, this accessibly written study also has broad implications for understanding the role of the mass media in democratization around the world.
302 pages, Paperback
First published July 6, 2002
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June 30, 2020
Political scientists are not known for the momentum, let alone the general quality, of their prose, but Chappell Lawson is an exception. With an eye for the telling quote, useful statistic, and easy-to-digest graph, he relates media’s vital role in Mexico’s democratic transition – from the unusually fraudulent election of 1988 to the unusually fair one of 2000 – in a lean and well-paced 200 pages.
Economy of prose is but one reason why Lawson’s book has become something of an academic classic. It was the first rigorous study of both print media and television in Mexico’s neoliberal era. It synthesizes the key literature in both English and Spanish on Mexican media and democracy. It discusses civil society (social movements and activists) as agents of democratization, facilitated by a more independent press. And it offers useful original research, conducted in the 1990s, on many facets of newspapers and newscasts, from the independence, ideology, and circulation of Mexico City dailies; to the impact of multiplying political scandals; to how Televisa’s unprecedentedly impartial coverage of the 1997 midterms encouraged many viewers to cease to vote for the long-ruling PRI, which as a result lost control of congress and the mayoralty of the capital.
Lawson’s overall argument is that Mexico in the 1990s experienced a virtuous circle, with a new openness within the media – many of them no longer servile propagandists for the state – and political democratization enabling each other. One may quibble at a few of his judgements (e.g. the supposed autonomy of the leftist daily La Jornada) and omissions (not much on the regional press or talk radio), and it is a shame that Lawson omits to devote an epilogue to the media’s role in the victory of the PAN’s Vicente Fox in 2000. But the sum of his well-researched parts is highly persuasive.
Economy of prose is but one reason why Lawson’s book has become something of an academic classic. It was the first rigorous study of both print media and television in Mexico’s neoliberal era. It synthesizes the key literature in both English and Spanish on Mexican media and democracy. It discusses civil society (social movements and activists) as agents of democratization, facilitated by a more independent press. And it offers useful original research, conducted in the 1990s, on many facets of newspapers and newscasts, from the independence, ideology, and circulation of Mexico City dailies; to the impact of multiplying political scandals; to how Televisa’s unprecedentedly impartial coverage of the 1997 midterms encouraged many viewers to cease to vote for the long-ruling PRI, which as a result lost control of congress and the mayoralty of the capital.
Lawson’s overall argument is that Mexico in the 1990s experienced a virtuous circle, with a new openness within the media – many of them no longer servile propagandists for the state – and political democratization enabling each other. One may quibble at a few of his judgements (e.g. the supposed autonomy of the leftist daily La Jornada) and omissions (not much on the regional press or talk radio), and it is a shame that Lawson omits to devote an epilogue to the media’s role in the victory of the PAN’s Vicente Fox in 2000. But the sum of his well-researched parts is highly persuasive.
Displaying 1 of 1 review