Images of the Dirty TV-War

Abstract

Since the 1980s, the concept of “civil society” has served as a self-identification for nonpartisan actors confronting Mexico’s authoritarian state. Propelled by the left, this civil society called for the construction of an enlarged citizenry and a new kind of participation based on public involvement in government. Lately, however, the concept of civil society has been co-opted by corporate and partisan interests acting through Mexico’s television networks. Through constant transmission of violent images, they have managed to fill the public with dread, providing a propitious environment for the iron-fisted policies of the political right. At the same time, they have waged a teleguerra sucia (dirty TV-war) against the left, selectively exposing the corruption of leftist political parties and striving in particular to discredit the presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Although López Obrador has so far survived their attacks, the media enter the political campaign of 2006 convinced of their ability to influence the outcome by manipulating information and maintaining a climate of fear and insecurity.