Introduction. Not Authoritarian, But Not Yet Democratic. Advances, Setbacks, and Challenges in Mexican Media and Politics

For its breadth and complexity, Mexico is a rich case to study the relationship between media and politics in post-authoritarian democracies. In this chapter, we summarize and organize recent scholarly work about the state of said relationship. We focus on the structural dynamics that evidence the grip that politics still has on the media, as well as other dynamics that indicate empowerment and symmetrical standing by the media toward politics. Second, we provide an explanation of the contradictory traits we described, through two theoretical strands: the first considers the coexistence of different journalisms within the same country, explained by the presence of different modernization processes in Mexican regions. The second strand uses Voltmer’s framework for explaning institutional and cultural changes by political and media actors in transitional contexts, their advances, and setbacks. Finally, we provide a synthesis about each of the chapters of the book, divided into three parts: (1) Mexican media system and regulation, (2) field inquiries and reflections on anti-press violence, and (3) analyses about media content and performance, such as the press’ depictions of civil society and workings of media logic, and the openness and closeness of televised political satire.