Media and elections 2012: Old and new challenges for political communication in Mexico

Abstract

This paper presents a reflection on the role of media, referring to 2012 Mexico's federal elections. First, we go through the confrontation held between elections administrators and the main broadcast media corporations around the country. That dispute arose from the enacted Federal Institutions and Elections Proceedings (COFIPE by its Spanish acronym), back in 2007. Secondly, we tackle a crucial issue that we consider the focus on several analyses about the 2012 elections; how cyber activism –mainly the #yosoy132 movement– burst into the politics arena, and the way they reached not only the media but the institutions around the nation. From those two frameworks, the final part is a look at the 2012 local electoral process –Chihuahua and Ciudad Juárez–, where repeated historical trend abstention after a process subordinated to the federal match, with traditional media coverage and reduced advertising scarce, little enthusiasm, even in the echo of the #Yosoy132 movement.