Download The Mexican constitutional reform in telecommunications. Towards a

The Mexican constitutional reform in telecommunications.
Towards a media democracy?
Professor Héctor Pérez Pintor
INTRODUCTION
To analyze the importance of various additions to Article 6 from the reform of June
2013, we start from letter of the text so that there are states that " Everyone has the
right to free access to timely information from multiple and well and to seek, receive
and impart information and ideas of all kinds through any media " . We note that the
plurality of information and access are minimum principles a democratic state must
guarantee . However the implementation in the "real world " of the reform will
generate a series of resistances given all the accumulated interest that has been
allowed until today, where nothing will information monopolies in order not to lose
their privileges.
The second part of this addition is to incorporate into the Constitution the provisions
of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 13 of the
American Convention on Human Rights.
Regarding adding enshrining " The State shall guarantee the right of access to
information technology and communication , as well as broadcasting and
telecommunications services , including broadband and Internet " . Is to ask what are
the mechanisms that use the State to fully ensure eg the internet.
There is an internal logic to the functioning of democracy that works decisively to
make things well . The strength of democracy lies in admitting , even more , to
promote the constant questioning of the decisions they make and execute those with
standing to do so . In democracy , as is so often said , no official transcendent truths of
nature, or decision areas closed to the public confrontation . It is through debate and
the clash of diverse views - debate and opposition that themselves represent
fundamental values of democracy - as is reached to clarify what, in every moment , the
decision "better" in the sense of more favorable to the public interest. What legitimate
defense of such interest as public interest is precisely being subjected to the test of
public discussion. This test is decisive character ; ensures that no attempt to pass a
general interest which is but a spurious interest , unable to overcome the " test" of
confrontation and therefore shameful .
The constitutional provisions of structure and rules on the periodic election of
representatives by the holder of sovereignty, are designed to provide routine channels
of expression to the dialectic majority / minority . Constitutional bodies such dialectic
channel based on a division of responsibilities that are critical to the principles of
decisional competence , control and responsibility.
Meanwhile , the system of rights - a result of the consideration of the person as an end
in itself absolute character - comes to ensure that the exercise of power does not
exceed the margins that define the space of what is constitutionally permissible . From
this point of view , considering democracy as open to all forum, and images of public
space and the transparent exercise of power, act as powerful logical presuppositions .
Telegraphic way , arguably secret - what divides - is , at least , conflicted with (if not
opposed to ) :
- The dignity of the person as a political subject represented , which is equipped with
identical supposed ability to discern rational than those who have , because of the
representation they hold , have dealings with arcane power.
- Exercise the same right to participation by representatives , whose democratic
participation as well can be assessed by measuring the flow of information flowing
between the representative and the represented .
- The possibility, in short, of any form of control , preventive or ex post , and the
consequent difficulty in substance to demand political accountability , something
inherent to public office .
Start from a well-known and oldest definition of democracy , which is that elemental
speaking it is the government of the people and by the people.
From the above statement it appears that the government of society is through
representatives emanating herself. Somehow it is implicit the idea that rulers are part
of the same social class who elected them.
At least in theory sounds very attractive conception that society governs itself , but the
truth is that the reality is very far from being coincident with that concept , which is
somewhat idealistic.
The version of democracy we have outlined , responds to a notion conceived in
ancient times , overcome by the development of cities and the growth of population
and the flooding of part of the city-states , where that meaning is inscribed , rooted in
the Greek polis.
Today it is very different and we are facing a gradual divorce between ruler and ruled ,
has always existed , but modernity is emphasized.
It is clear that in modern states , the aspiration to have a ruler emerged in society, is
becoming daily more a wish than a fact. Of absolute social representation , where the
president was a representative of the company , because it is in a public square so
chose , we have moved to a government delegation , where most of the time the voter
knows only their leader through of media .
However, we must not idealize the direct democracy of the ancients, particularly the
Greeks, who are our benchmark , because deep down this would not stop being elitist ,
and finally those who remained in command of the polis were figures certain
economic , military figures or descendants of power and with a background in the
field of politics, what input possibilities politically closed up a good number of the
members of the society, on the other hand also excluded participation women .
But today , when the possibilities of transcending the political, at least in theory , are
open to the whole society , as long as citizenship requirements are met , the reality is
that we are in transit to a democracy increasingly elitist, where the notion of
government by the people and for the people is overcome and the government over
the people left alone .
An additional problem , which should not be in contemporary society , the role of the
media as creators and actors of democracy.
An essential for the health of a democracy requirement is that government actions are
made public , so that citizens can know and act to control to some extent. In this sense,
the media can positively serve the interests of citizens, to facilitate monitoring of
government actions , which undoubtedly will force the state to adopt moderation and
rationality to exercise power and equip their internal processes transparent . In
grounded on active communication processes nations , the hard power exercised from
above lose its hegemony. According to Giddens , the revolution in communication has
produced the most active and reflective citizenship that never existed : it is no
accident that in recent years there have been many scandals of corruption in politics.
Giddens (1999 )
It is the watchful eye of the media on the actions of the rulers.
Despite the benefits of active communication for strengthening democracy, the same
Giddens notes that television and other media tend to destroy the public space of
dialogue open themselves to trivialize and personalize political affairs. The media,
governed by commercial interests , also can not stand as unique partners of
government: the dichotomy between private initiative and state very little to promote
a strong democracy , whose existence requires the active participation of an informed
civil society.
Today , citizen who lacks resources to achieve buy media space is doomed to be
marginalized to access the power , the media have become the major constituents ,
which only transmit citizenship to the notes to the actors who they are pleasant ,
gratitude can be obtained in several ways.
In short, although the media are necessary for society that therefore its size can not
come into direct contact with the actors who aspire to govern , one thing to be a
broadcast medium and the other is to become electors .
Of mass democracy , popular democracy, led and manipulated by the media
democracy , there is a great distance.
Media democracy
The distance between popular democracy and media democracy , also called media
democracy or mediocracy , is explained from the absurdities that exist in each of the
adjectives given to democracy.
The term democracy means government by the people , if you stick to the Greek root "
demos" and " kratos " , then the term democracy has in it so popular , which is the
people, for the people and by the people , ie the denomination popular democracy is a
tautology , the word democracy does not require a grammatical meaning of popular
adjective this epithet had its rationale, is of class type , as this would mean that against
bourgeois democracy or bourgeoisie, the capitalist class , possessed of the means of
production ( a tiny portion of the people) , concerning a democracy the majority of
people , in which class distinctions would be abolished once stood . Andrade
( 2005:192 ) .
The term democracy media focuses a government emerging from an election in which
the people "sovereign" "decide" those who shall represent , manage and administer
influenced by the image of politicians contending issues in the mass media or mass
media , especially television , is natural, that in some cases , the interests of those who
run the media do not match those of the people, or most of the people , in which case
the term " media democracy "contradicts itself , because a TV picture emerged of the
government would be contrary to a true democratic system .
Unfortunately, the signs that are in Mexico do not seem to contradict the above , he
was for six years a president , Vicente Fox, more interested in developing a successful
action against the media, that a responsible public policy exercise.
Also, during the last federal election , the major TV networks were central players in
the Mexican guide for whom to vote , with the resulting tension in the society , as the
defeated presidential candidate in 2006, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said , poor
impartiality of the television of the country to him.
THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA IN A DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM
To understand the media role in the modern day , it is essential to remember some
notions of what is involved in the term "democracy."
A democratic regime, from a formal angle , is one in which those who manage public
affairs are elected by his constituents , but he goes further, from formal to the real, ie ,
it is required that those affected by agreements governing elite , consciously
participate in decision -making.
In that vein , one of the factors , variables or indicators that a regime give the range of
democratic , is the access to the media and the ability of these to report clear, timely ,
accurate and objective manner , this , considering that the mass media are
transmitters of the aspirations and approaches to " ... different ideological , political,
cultural and regional expressions." This is the starting point for analyzing the role of
media in democracy.
The label in our time have the media or how they have changed is the media company
private in nature , reaching in many cases hereditary television monopoly , on the
other side are the media sectors controlled by the government , ie , mass media are
state-owned and those controlled by the private sector.
Are precisely those dominated by the business or private sector, that have grabbed
the attention of a considerable portion of the viewing public , so that they become
genuine opinion makers, the popular public opinion.
As opinion leaders , the role of the media is viewed from two perspectives: positive or
idealistic, pessimistic or realistic.
The realist perspective is reflected in the words of Luc Ferry and André ComteSponville : " ... television alienates the minds , showing them all the same , it transmits
the ideology of those who manufacture, ( ... ) , numbs intelligence exerts an insidious
Control political, shapes our thinking frames , manipulate information , impose
dominant cultural models ... consistently finds only a part of reality " , however , these
thinkers qualifying television as" ... the symbol of the modernity , the archetypal
democratic crowded universe. "
The pessimist , or realist position , in short, argues that the media , to be an
instrument of democracy, has become one of the main obstacles to the practical
realization of the same , to obey the ambitions of those who hold .
The optimistic or idealistic angle , which is mentioned as a variable to qualify as
democratic a regime in which the media act as transmitters of the aspirations and
approaches an existing pluralism in society , which prosecutes different and varied
forms of political expression cultural, economic , social, and so on. Is the point of view
indicating that the media reports timely , truthfulness , impartiality and objectivity in
order to crystallize a genuine public opinion, a effectively educated people , ready to
cast an informed vote , not a vote blindly.
Once the bids , which will be useful when formulating the conclusion analyzed worth
quoting another of the adjectives that distinguish them : lobbyist.
MEDIA LOBBYING AS MEDIA LOBBYING
Lobbyists are complex associations of individuals or individual characterized by a
degree of well-defined and hierarchical organization intended to influence the actions
of state bodies so that their rulings are favorable to the interests they represent.
In fact lobbyists , unlike political parties are organizations like these are not meant to
take power , but influence decision -making, for profit .
A kind of groups we have been discussing is formed by private lobbies where
converge the particular initiative , the industry of those who monopolize the
production, circulation , distribution and marketing of goods and services, such as
entrepreneurs broadcasting.
Eduardo Andrade described as advantages of lobbyists , the following : stimulate
public discussion on matters of political and public interest; allow the organization
and expression of interests of significant social groups of the population are channels
through which flow multiple views and comprehensive and detailed information , also
are a factor of balance between different interests , and even opposite .
The downside of such groups is to concentrate and monopolize the production,
distribution and marketing of goods and services, imposing the interests of a minority,
offer to the public interest ; deteriorate the political system through the use of
blackmail or corruption , among others.
A typical manifestation of lobbyists are the media , especially when the controls
private initiative, since it acquired through a superlative ability to " ... influence public
opinion ."
But obviously that this influence is far from neutral , due to what the media
considered as politically positive for them , turning their interests in an alleged
expression of the generals.
A CRITIQUE OF MASS MEDIA
Those big media empires have accomplished what centuries ago seemed unthinkable :
the subordination of public to private , submission of congress, public administration
and political parties in the interests & Payment television moguls . The broadcasting
of the private sector has gone from being a controlling factor of public power to a
mechanism of deterioration of the public.
A reality in which the influence of television, the media , pressure groups as concrete ,
are the elections, elections for the renewal of the members of legislatures and
members or principal officers of public administration , government , as a form of
subordination of public to private , we must not forget that political parties exercise a
monopoly of the right to vote in most countries of the world and Mexico , except in the
case of Yucatán, no is the exception ; are precisely matches the bodies postulate staff
that will lead the political life of a country and that must first compete on an election
to allow the voters to choose the option that suits you or convince , and in the work of
conviction and convenience is where the intervention of television is of paramount
importance.
It's on television, candidates prefer the image on the argument , the triviality that
reasoning , the simple to the important, this due to the massive manipulation of the
masses of alienated who believe everything they see in the macrocosm of
communication and is that the citizen has become a robot , homo sapiens has
devolved into a homo videns .
Not far from reality Sartori statement that " ... the sovereign people ' opinion '
particularly in terms of how television leads him to say. And in fact conduct the
review , the power of image is placed in the center of all processes of contemporary
politics ',' ... television strongly affects the electoral process, either in the choice of
candidates , either his way of putting the election , or on the way to help defeat the
victorious battle. Television also affects or may strongly condition the government , ie ,
government decisions : what government can and can not do , or decide what you will
do . "
What Sartori explains, is that the media have in fact self-appointed as the Great
Elector to decide factual abusing their power, the imposition of the candidate of your
choice , strong support for the party that best suits their interests, the boycott of
political figures representing a detriment of his power , the imposition of exorbitant
rates in countries where electoral propaganda on radio and television in private is not
prohibited , the use of different or opposing views in the collection of such fees as
which is a breakdown of the principle of fairness, and so on.
It will win the elections who possesses enough , and quite necessary for the
recruitment of advertising time on television the great emporiums resources. It has
devolved democracy to videocracy or mediocracy , absurd , because the media also
choose what is democratic and what is not democratic : you can make up a dictator as
a Democrat and a civilian ruler as a satrap , omitting information and using the easy,
simplistic and lacking any argument communication.
From policy - popular legitimacy it has reached the "media legitimacy" defined by
Diego Valadés as " ... apparent form of legitimacy in respect of the adaptation to the
requirements of the means through which a species is received general acceptance. "
This situation undermines political pluralism , diversity of ideas, concentrated in a few
hands and control the exercise of power and democracy as a way of life is a simple
statement of principles positivized constitutions of states and in the Treaties
international detriment of the material and spiritual living conditions of the vast
majority of the community , falls into an aristocracy in which television dictates the
rules of the game.
RECAP
As seen in the development of this work , the mass media , which are the highest
expression of some of the traditional rights of man, have demerited prestige to skip
truthfulness, impartiality and objectivity as its guiding principles act against the
society by subjecting the public to its not always positive goals , to subsume the
electoral process and the actors in them immersed in a dark ambitions earthquake
and disastrous consequences .
However, this should not be an excuse for those who insist on eliminating diverse
voices to the ideology and interests , as the reach the end of things can cause an
imbalance within the social fabric , a situation that unfortunately have collaborated
unhealthy ambitions private initiative .
Ideally always balancing public and private : the State has to dictate the rules under
which individuals are to be conducted and the means to be restructured as
instruments of public opinion from the city area that would audit the actions of the
public bodies .
A worthy role of the mass media forces these to reformulate for the public good , his
role as stimulating public discussion channels, organization and expression of
interests of significant social groups of the population, channels of expression points
view and comprehensive and detailed information and balancing factor between
competing interests , if the above is achieved , the foundations for a harmonious
evolution of contemporary society will sit and democracy have taken a step into
reality.
In emerging democracies , it is expected that the media take the responsibility to be
players who feel more sustained basis for democratic development.
Most alarming is when we realize that the media, particularly television , seem to
come politically autonomy in deciding who should appear on the screen and those
who do not , who synthesized is one of the most influential players for many years on
Mexican television , Zabludovski Jacobo , that being a huge connoisseur of the features
that this was during the time of the hegemonic party , where instructions on
censorship came from the organs of power , has said that " today is more sinister
censorship . Used to defend their own interests : censorship is within the media
themselves . "
One of the great challenges of Mexico is in transit to consolidate its hegemonic state to
a democratic one , but avoid falling into the hegemony now , because they say, means
dictatorship .
A good question , which is according to Sartori, yes the twentieth century was the
triumph of videns homo sapiens on , does the XXI will also defeat zoon politikon by
videns ? .
Giddens , Anthony. ( 1999 ) . Runaway World. 2014 BBC Reith LECTURES Website:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/events/reith_99/week5/week5.htm
Andrade , J. Eduardo . ( 2005 ) . Introduction to Political Science . Mexico : Oxford.