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1. News Media Consumption and Political Behavior in Latin America

Author:
Ryan Salzman
Publication Date:
08-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
News media are an important factor in any democratic society. Research focused on developed democracies has paved the way for anal- ysis in the context of less well-developed democracies. The project en- deavors to continue that investigation into whether and how news media consumption affects democratic behavior among individuals in a region comprised of developing democracies: Latin America. Employing rich survey data available from the 2008 Latin American Public Opinion Project, traditional analyses are used to test one of the most basic ques- tions for political communication researchers: Does news media con- sumption motivate or depress political participation? The results indicate that, on average, news media mobilize political participation, albeit to different degrees per medium and participation type. This seems to hap- pen because those media socialize Latin Americans to value political participation.
Topic:
Mass Media, Elections, Democracy, Media, and Participation
Political Geography:
South America, Latin America, and North America

2. 'WE ARE GAÚCHOS, WE ARE GAÚCHAS...' INCITEMENTS TO GENDERED AND REGIONAL SUBJECTIVITY IN THE 2002 BRAZILIAN ELECTION CAMPAIGNS

Author:
Benjamin Junge
Publication Date:
12-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This paper analyzes Brazil's 2002 presidential and gubernatorial election-campaign discourse, identifying recurrent themes and modes of appeal within campaign discourses. In an introductory section, the conceptual and methodological framework is mapped out, drawing from "anthropology of politics" and media studies scholarship. In this context, a framework for analyzing campaign rhetoric's appeals to a gendered subject and a regional (gaucho) subject is presented. Historical background is provided for the political context and stakes of the 2002 elections, followed by an overview the different types of media used in the campaigns. The analysis proper examines the rhetoric of the presidential campaigns (principally that of leftist Workers Party candidate Luiz In á cio "Lula" da Silva), followed by analysis of the Rio Grande do Sul gubernatorial campaigns. In the concluding section, the argument is presented that the citizen-subject implicit in the official discourses of the Lula campaign is individualist for its concern over everyday-life struggles, nationalist for its concern over the country's well-being, and universalist for its concern with moral justice. For the gubernatorial campaigns, discursive appeal is constructed with heavy recourse to the "timeless tradition" of authentic (and symbolically masculine) gauchismo.
Topic:
Democratization, Political Economy, Mass Media, and Governance
Political Geography:
Brazil and Latin America

3. Dangerous Work: Violence Against Mexico's Journalists and Lessons from Colombia

Author:
Douglas Farah
Publication Date:
04-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
The job of Mexican journalists covering drug trafficking and organized crime along the Mexico- U.S. border has regularly been called the most dangerous job in the world. And the danger has spread from journalists for traditional media to bloggers and citizens who post reports on drug cartel violence through social media such as Twitter and Facebook. The danger is not just from drug cartels, however. Journalists often identified local politicians and police– frequently in the pay of the cartels– as the source of most of the threats.
Topic:
Political Violence, Crime, Mass Media, and Narcotics Trafficking
Political Geography:
Colombia, Latin America, and Mexico

4. Confronting the News: The State of Independent Media in Latin America

Author:
Douglas Farah
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
Freedom of expression and of the press in much of Latin America are under sustained attack by numerous authoritarian governments in the region, as well as non-state armed actors such as drug trafficking organizations and paramilitary groups. These attacks have made Latin America one of the most dangerous places in the world in which to be a journalist. Overall, the region, with the exception of the Caribbean, has suffered an almost uninterrupted deterioration of press freedoms over the past five years, reaching its lowest point since the military dictatorships of the 1980s.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Mass Media, and Governance
Political Geography:
Latin America and Caribbean

5. La disputa por la mediación durante el kirchnerismo en Argentina.

Author:
Lucía Vincent
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
Abstract:
Nestor Kirchner, the ex Argentinean President, developed a unique and new way of relating with the press, totally divergent from the method that previous democratic governments used to have. Through the analysis of Kirchner´ speeches, this article will illustrate in which way the president aimed to weaken the media, removing them from their position as the “forth power” and “objective mediators” between the government and the citizens. Those transformations are due to the conditions in which he developed a specific type of leadership. Those changes, also, had consequences in the political representation and in the current characteristics of the democratic system in Argentina.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Politics, and Mass Media
Political Geography:
Argentina and Latin America

6. President of the Republic of Ecuador, Rafael Correa

Author:
Rafael Correa
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Columbia University World Leaders Forum
Abstract:
This World Leaders Forum program features an address by Rafael Correa, President of the Republic of Ecuador, titled Vulnerable Societies: Media and Democracy in Latin America, followed by a question and answer session with the audience. Co-sponsored by the Institute of Latin American Studies and the School of International and Public Affairs.
Topic:
Democratization, Political Economy, and Mass Media
Political Geography:
Latin America

7. Winds From the East: How the People's Republic of China Seeks to Influence the Media in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia

Author:
Andy Mosher and Douglas Farah
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
The People's Republic of China (PRC) is using various components of public diplomacy to influence the media in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. China's primary purposes appear to be to present China as a reliable friend and partner, as well as to make sure that China's image in the developing world is positive. As part of its efforts to do this, the Chinese government seeks to fundamentally reshape much of the world's media in its own image, away from a watchdog stance toward the government to one where the government's interests are the paramount concern in deciding what to disseminate. The Chinese efforts often result in helping authoritarian governments expand control of their local media.
Topic:
Mass Media
Political Geography:
Africa, China, Latin America, and Southeast Asia

8. The Media Activism of Latin America's Leftist Governments: Does Ideology Matter

Author:
Philip Kitzberger
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
Has Latin America's left turn mattered in media politics? Does ideology impact governments' practices and policies regarding media and journalistic institutions? Through an empirical assessment of discourses on the media, of direct-communication practices, and of media regulation policies on the part of the recent leftist governments of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Uruguay, and Venezuela, this paper stresses the existence of a specific media activism on the part of leftist governments in Latin America. While showing that the current binary distinctions that stress the existence of two lefts—“populist” and “nonpopulist”—obscure important commonalities and continuities, the author also demonstrates that it is the existence of certain institutional and structural constraints that best accounts for the differences among the various leftist governments in Latin America. In sum, the paper challenges the prevailing neglect of ideology as a relevant factor in explaining developments in government–media relationships in the region.
Topic:
Politics and Mass Media
Political Geography:
Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Latin America, Venezuela, Chile, and Ecuador

9. El Grito: Four Years of Female Clandestine Journalism Against the Military Dictatorship in Panama (1968–1972)

Author:
Carlos Guevara Mann and Brittmarie Janson Pérez
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Most countries of Latin America lived through long dictatorships before transitioning to democracy in the late twentieth century. Who keeps the spirit of resistance alive during bleak periods of intense repression? Who reaffirms the principles of democracy when they are violated with impunity? In Panama, a clandestine weekly titled El Grito (The Cry), published during the first four years of the military dictatorship installed in 1968, became a reliable source of information, a vehicle of protest, and a mouthpiece of democratic education. Never divining that those responsible for the clandestine publication were women, the military regime was unable to stop it. Uncovering unknown details of the weekly, this paper retrieves the effort made by a small group of middle-class women who did not identify with any political party and had no financial support other than their own limited resources. We suggest that attention be paid to the actors—often from relegated social groups—who keep the spirit of protest alive in countries during long periods of political repression. We show that, contrary to general expectations, those occupying subordinate positions in society may have an advantage in carrying out resistance activities against authoritarian regimes.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, and Mass Media
Political Geography:
Latin America

10. Independent Media's Vital Role in Development

Author:
Peter Graves
Publication Date:
12-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
Independent media play a critical role in building and sustaining democracies, societies, and economies around the world. They provide citizens with the information necessary to make informed political and economic choices. Independent media give voice to women, youth, and minorities, along with dissident political opinions. They also improve communities by providing citizens with important information on health, the environment, and rural development, and help people prevent and respond to disasters.
Topic:
Democratization, Globalization, and Mass Media
Political Geography:
Latin America