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Propaganda and Crony Capitalism: Partisan Bias in Mexican Television News

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2022

Sallie Hughes  and
Chappell Lawson
Sallie Hughes
Affiliation:
University of Miami
Chappell Lawson
Affiliation:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Abstract

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The relationship between media ownership and partisan bias has been an important source of controversy in emerging democracies. Systematic tests of the effects of ownership, however, remain relatively rare. Using data from content analysis of ninety-three television news programs, as well as more detailed examination of six provincial television stations, we assess the extent of bias exhibited by different types of broadcasters during Mexico's 2000 presidential campaign. We find that privately owned television stations were generally more balanced than public broadcasters, who typically followed propagandistic models of coverage. At the same time, private ownership often entailed collusive arrangements between broadcasters and politicians, based on the prospect of future business concessions (i.e., “crony capitalism”). We conclude that changes in ownership patterns are unlikely to eradicate partisan bias, and we discuss other institutional remedies aimed at insulating both private and state-run media from political manipulation.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 39 , Issue 3 , 2004 , pp. 81 - 105
Copyright
Copyright © 2004 by the University of Texas Press

Footnotes

1.

We thank W. Lance Bennett, Jorge I. Domínguez, Federico Estévez, Daniel C. Hallin, Steve Levitsky, Jordan Siegel, Strom Thacker, Peter Ward, and three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions. The Wigg Research Fund of Pomona College generously provided funding for field work summarized in this paper.

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