On 1 July 2012, 80 thousand Mexicans will flock to the polls to vote in a new leader, but before that happens, the youth population of Mexico City has something to say: ‘we want fair media.’
The Latino sector of Fox News claims that, ‘The movement has organized massive street protests in less than two weeks and made the role of the media in a democracy a campaign issue, injecting energy into what had been one of the most boring races on record in Mexico.’ Using social media platforms, students have expressed their concern about candidate Pena Nieto and how he is being portrayed in the media. When protestors were particularly vocal at one of Pena Nieto’s speeches, they were accused of being sent there by the opposition.
Outraged, the young people counterattacked with a YouTube video defending their right to express their views and giving birth to the ‘Somos mas de 131’ (We Are More Than 131) movement and the Twitter hash tag #LaMarchaYoSoy132, which allows people to search for tweets on a common topic.
The LA Times notes the desire of students protestors for fair media coverage of the election. The claim is that candidate Pena Nieto has been given unfair coverage. The media has been accused of saying that he will easily win the election. This past week some 15,000 people took to the streets to march. ‘They stopped outside the headquarters of the giant, Televisa Broadcasting Network to demand fairer and more pluralistic TV news…The protesters came from a wide range of universities: public, private; leftist, rightist, Catholic. And while many were decidedly anti-Peña Nieto — a message made clear in banners and signs — their protest appears to go beyond pure partisan politics and represents a broader questioning of Mexico’s status quo.’
The Mexican media is a fairly concentrated system that lacks diversity. Without the voices of others, biased campaign support of Pena Nieto could lead to an unfair election of the candidate by uninformed voters. Furthermore, Pena Nieto is known for representing a corrupt group that has not had power in over a decade, the Institutional Revolutionary Party. The Washington Post labels the party ‘old, autocratic and often corrupt.’ They even describe skepticism of Pena Nieto’s ruling powers.
‘No one is really sure how he will govern as president — whether he would tackle the tough reforms Mexico needs to enter the 21st century, or allow his party to return to cronyism and coercion.’
Despite strong criticism from northern neighbours’ media sources, Pena Nieto is not receiving the same from local Mexican media, and seems to be the favourite.
Televisa, one of the main media giants, claimed that they are required by law to give equal coverage to each candidate and could therefore not be biased. However, a quick search of the Board of Directors for Televisa shows that the Chairman of the Board is Emilio Azcárraga Jean, who inherited the company from his father, mogul Emilio Azcárraga. It openly states in the obituary of Emilio Azcárraga, 1997, his biased support for the Institutional Revolutionary Party and the relationship between the company and the party
‘His power depended upon close ties to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the right-wing Mexican party that has held power for decades, and he made no bones about the backing Televisa gave to PRI candidates and policies while suppressing news about the opposition.’
It is not hard to imagine that his son might follow in his fathers footsteps, supporting the same group and thereby Pena Nieto in present day relations.
In response to the negative coverage, Pena Nieto has launched a ‘Manifiesto por una Presidencia democratica’, which will outline his policies to protest freedom of expression should be come into power, however, this does not seem to be deterring protestors. Despite the recent controversy, polls still show Pena Nieto in the lead with nearly 50% of the vote going to him.
The results of the vote will be announced later on 1 July and the new leader will come into power 1 December 2012.
Julia McDonald is completing her Masters of Global Communications at La Trobe University. Follow her on Twitter @Jules_mcdonald.
