Overview of Mexico Country - Case Study Example

Mexico country Overview of Mexico Country According to BBC , Mexico is also officially called the United Mexican States. It is a federal country and republic in North America and U.S border it to the tundra. Covering nearly 2 million Square kilometers, Mexico country is the fifth biggest nation by area in the American continents and the 13th largest and independent nation worldwide. With a population estimation of about and over 113 million, Mexico is the eleventh record densely populated country in the world and the second record populous country in the Latin America. The United Mexican States is a federation consisting of the Federal District, its largest and capital city and thirty-one states (BBC, 2012). The federal government is headed by a president, Enrique Peña Nieto, with a Federal presidential constitutional republic government system. The country has a nominal GDP of close to $2 Trillion. Mexico’s economy is the second-largest in Latin America, after Brazil, and is a major producer and exporter of oil and oil products with the U.S being the destination of much of the crude oil export. Spanish is the primary communication language of the country while Christianity is the dominant religion (UNESCO, 2014). This study paper examines Mexico country with a strong emphasis on the media industry of this federal state including print, social and broadcast media and their emerging trends (BBC, 2012). Media Systems in the Mexico Country According to Guerrero and Márquez-Ramírez (2014), based on the number of publishers, newspapers, television networks, and radio stations in the country, Mexico is painted as the center of media power in Latin America. Mexicos mainstream periodicals, radios, TVs and newspapers range in independence and political ideology from the left-wing independent newspaper El Proceso to the El Nacional official government newspaper (Donsbach, 2008). The media were for many years pro-establishment and loyal to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). However, it broadened in the 1980s to mirror a wider continuum of opinion (Freedom House, 2013; Schweid, 2011). The U.S Library of Congress (2001) outlined that, the 1917 constitution explicitly guaranteed press freedom. An amendment to the constitution’s Article 6 adopted in 1977 states that "the state will ensure the right of information." However, the government guarantees are vastly qualified in practice (Donsbach, 2008). The 1917 Press Law, for example, restricts the media on stuffs of personal morality, privacy, and public health. There are many other regulations that govern the press and media. The 1960 Radio and Television Law, for example, forbid the press to broadcast material considered unpleasant to national heroes (Curran & ParkDe, 2005). For most of the twentieth century’s second half, the press in Mexico was dominated by government directives and officials (McKenzie, 2009; Schweid, 2011). The PRI regularly spied on the media through the national intelligence agency that was then the Center for Information and National Security. Journalists and media personalities had little professionalism and with inadequate higher education (Guerrero & Márquez-Ramírez, 2014). The media were a dangerous, since the military, police, and drug lords threatened and even assassinated media personalities and their editors (Donsbach, 2008). Luckily, the 2000 election gave the vision of openness among the government officials and departments (McKenzie, 2009). In addition, in the twenty-first century, efforts by privatized media to engage in further objective media and journalism presented hope of evolution in the media (Curran & ParkDe, 2005). However, in 2011 Mexico was described as "one of the globe’s most treacherous nations" of the press. Ever since 2000, many journalists in Mexico have been murdered. Corrupt officials and Drug cartels are caught up in most of the violent offenses against the media that nearly always go unpunished (Freedom House, 2013). The tolerance of press freedoms by the Mexican Government fluctuates in relation to the sensitivities of the office of the president (García, 2013). On the government’s sensitive issues, the media offer only minimal coverage. Amidst the many unwritten rules, and other regulations that impede media development, there is one that requires journalists and the media to respect the image of top government officials and the presidency (Donsbach, 2008). Ever since the early 1980s, the drift towards an open political debate has fetched greater criticism tolerance in the media. Some people argue that the tolerance that has arisen faster than the political system’s democratization has ultimately backed the cumulative public awareness of the necessity for changes in the political system of Mexico (Curran & ParkDe, 2005; McKenzie, 2009). Country Details & Media Systems Overview In reference to Baitenger (2013), Mexico has a variety of publications mostly newspapers and periodicals. There are a number of print stations mostly dailies with a few weekly, business and political newspapers. Mexican newspapers mirror different political outlooks with sensationalism charactering the biggest-selling weeklies and dailies (Arana, 2013). Examples of México’s newspapers are the El Universal and Excelsior established dailies and La Jornada and El Sol de Mexico dailies, the influential Reforma daily, El Financiero business daily and Siempre and Proceso both political weeklies (Guerrero & Márquez-Ramírez, 2014). Mexico has an enormous TV and radio broadcast market, with nearly 1,400 regional and local radio stations and numerous major radio station-owning groups. Some influential positions on the northern border of Mexico beam into the rewarding US television markets (Donsbach, 2008). Some of the influential radio station groups in México include the Grupo ACIR that has stations across the country and in Mexico City and the MVS Radio that operates in the capital (Schneider, 2011). Also, there is the Nucleo Radio Mil that works in Mexico City with numerous FM and medium waves (AM) stations; the W Radio that has talk network, news and part of Televisa group and the Instituto Mexicano de la Radio (IMER) that is a state-run radio station. Mexico’s TV operators include the giant Televisa group and its main competitor the TV Azteca (Arana, 2013). Others include the public, educational and cultural Once TV - Canal 11 and government-owned cultural network of the Television Metropolitana (Baitenger, 2013). Emergently, Mexico is among the Latin Americas leading magazine and internet markets (García, 2013). There were almost 35 million internet subscribers by the close of 2010. That figure represented a 30% penetration rate according to the internet world statistics. In México, Facebook and twitter are the most popular sites on social network (Baitenger, 2013). Newspapers and magazines According to WorldNewspapers.com (2010), the most popular format of the publication appears to be daily; however, there are several weekly newspapers both business and political. Mexico City’s El Universal is the most influential daily newspaper. The News is the prominent Mexicos nationwide English newspaper (Arana, 2013). The News is part of Novedades Editores that publishes 15 magazines and two papers and has an online publication called TheNewsMexico.com. Express newspaper is also another English newspaper that is mainly distributed in resorts and hotels. The ordinary price of these two daily papers arrays from 4 to 10 pesos (Reporters without Borders, 2013). From the early 2000s, Mexico had nearly 340 daily newspapers, of which, most were morning editions. In Mexico, most major cities have at least two competing papers, except Mexico City (Guerrero & Márquez-Ramírez, 2014). Mexico City has 25 to 30 dailies; its dailies comprise more than 50% of the national newspaper circulation. Despite a population of about 2 million in Mexico City, the aggregate flow of all newspapers, by 2006, was only nearly 700,000 copies each day (Arana, 2013). Mexico has over 100 weekly, monthly and quarterly magazines. Among the most renown magazines include the Proceso that is Mexico City’s most widely read magazine in founded in 1976 (Baitenger, 2013). McPhail, (2014) identifies other magazines such as open magazine, the Expansion, and Tritón Mexican. Open magazine is a Mexican lifestyle magazine that contains articles about style, beauty, fashion, entertainment, art, cars, celebrity, gallery, travel, movies, restaurants, reviews, travel, profile, TV Shows, and more. The Expansión, which focuses on business, investment, banking, insurance, economy, technology, telecommunications, media industry, construction and real estate among others (Reporters without Borders, 2013). The Tritón Mexican magazine of sports that offers the latest news, books, lifestyles, culture, swimming, diving, and more. Also, there are the Veintitantos Mexican womens magazine, Tu en Linea, Cosmopolitan Española and Zeta among others (W3Newspapers, 2009; McPhail, 2014). Guerrero and Márquez-Ramírez (2014) outline that, until 1935 Newsprint was handled by the Productora Y Importa-Dora de Papel (PIPSA) that is owned by the government. Its monopoly provided low-cost materials for newsprint for the local newspapers. However, over time PIPSA became a political weapon that would be used against newspapers that published negative accounts about the ruling federal party, PRI by punishing the newspapers that did not support the government (PEN American Center, 2012). PIPSA would punish these papers by sending inferior newsprint or delaying newsprint deliveries. However, in 1990, it lost the monopoly as the new free market created competition (Schneider, 2011). As of 2002, the average consumption of magazines and newsprint was nearly 4800,000 metric tons, mostly supporting daily newspaper (Baitenger, 2013). Radio and Television By 1997, Mexico had approximately over 31 million radios receiving broadcast from nearly 500 FM stations; 865 AM stations, and almost 13 short-wave stations (Reporters without Borders, 2013). Mexicos prominent radio broadcaster, Grupo Radio Centro, produced the most common stations, most of which were in Mexico City the capital. Radio Centro had 20 studios and produced nearly all of its programming. A minor, Organización Impulsora de Radio, functioned as a sales representative of the nation and offered programming to over 100 associate radio stations across Mexico (Guerrero and Márquez-Ramírez, 2014). By 1997, México had almost over 30 million television sets receiving nearly 236 television broadcasting stations. Since 2002, Grupo Televisa was the biggest communication conglomerate in the Mexico and the world. In the early 2000s, UNESCO (2014), Televisa was Mexicos leading television network and controlled over 300 stations across its four networks. Almost 60% of its main source of revenues was television, mainly the successful Spanish soap operas (telenovelas) export (Reporters without Borders, 2013). Televisa owns more than 17 radio stations along with satellite interests, mobile phones, music labels, and other businesses. In print media, Televisa also controls the Ed visa, S.A. de C.V, a huge publishing press with over 40 Spanish magazines and a weekly television guide besides other popular products (Freedom House, 2013). Internet, Electronic, and Social media Mexico is among the Latin Americas biggest internet and electronic media markets. By the conclusion of 2010, there were nearly over 35 million internet subscribers. That figure represented a 30% internet penetration rate according to Internet world stats with twitter and Facebook being the most popular sites of social network (UNESCO, 2014). Since 2002, only 5% of Mexicans had internet access, however, places like Internet Cafes were gaining popularity. Expanding internet access was a foremost government priority. Mexico’s Internet growth rate is only exceeded by that of Brazil in Latin America (PEN American Center, 2012). Although Mexico is a freshly industrialized country, its economic development has not seen similarly successful drive to e-commerce and Internet business. The Mexican federal government had a plan to upgrade the countrys telecommunication system to enable availability of Internet access in rural plus urban areas by 2010 (Donsbach, 2008). Collectively, numerous forces in Mexico are uniting to support electronic information services and news. As from the early 2000s several Spanish online newspaper websites emerged: from El Financiero, Mexico City, Reforma La Jornada Mexico Hoy, El Universal, and Crónica. Furthermore, there emerged 11 other newspaper sites in different regions in Mexico. Additionally, two U.S. newspapers, San Diego Union Tribune-Mexico, and San Antonio Express-News had and have special sites for Mexican news (Guerrero & Márquez-Ramírez, 2014). Like online newspapers, magazines and the social media also began springing up in México by early 2000s. Access Mexico Connect or the Mex-Connect, was a very popular unrestricted monthly electronic magazine, in the early 2000s, focusing on Mexico’s information and promoting the nation to the world (Reporters without Borders, 2013). By 2002, Max-connect were Mexicos most read English online magazine site. Also, it provided a resource center with a range of Mexican activities for instance tourism, email, employment, classified ads and other e-commerce activities. It sought to promote Mexican advertising, trade, and commerce globally. Emerging Trends Among the emerging trends in México’s media is the introduction of pay and Cable TV (Perkins, 2002). The indoctrination for pay TV includes pay-per-view and cable Mexican TV companies and other countries in the U.S, Latin America, and Europe. Programming for pay television incomes are derived from international and domestic programming (García, 2013). According to International Press Institute (2014), the social media are an increasing press platform for nearly all sectors of the economy. Corporates, as well as the government, utilize the social media to reach their prospect audience. Since the social media is the preferred site for the youth, companies and media houses are increasingly adopting this mode of communication. In México, tourism is always at its peak. With the increasing democratization of the state, the media are at the forefront and gaining more popularity. Mexico is increasingly changing its political system with the backing of the social media and the press (Perkins, 2002). Conclusion Historically, the Mexican media have been influenced by criminal activity and violence (Schweid, 2011). In the early 2000s press laws and governmental modifications suggested hopeful reasons for continued development of an increasingly positive and professional media (Baitenger, 2013). The 2002 passage of the act of freedom of information indicated that México’s media would become more liberal and independent from the government. As the Mexican traditional print media sources migrate to electronic services, Mexico’s media are destined to find a larger habitation in the global market. The media’s support in the republic’s democratization is a heads-up to other nations to support their media and encourage press freedom (Perkins, 2002). Consequently, with media development and press freedom México and other countries can enjoy dominance in the global media market (Freedom House, 2013). References Arana, A. (2013). 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