Abstract

ECHEVERRIA VICTORIA, Martín  and  BANUELOS-RAMIREZ, Reyna M.. The Pro-Government Bias as Frame Fidelity. Media Coverage of the 2013 Energy Reform in Mexico. Rev. mex. cienc. polít. soc [online]. 2017, vol.62, n.231, pp.229-254. ISSN 0185-1918.

The authors posit a method to explore pro-government journalism in Mexico in terms of media’s fidelity to the communication strategies of the government. The research design theoretically links the macro-dimension of “cascade activation” and government clientelism, with the micro-dimension of institutional frames, and applies it to the coverage that the two major Mexican television networks gave to the legislative process of the energy reform, with both a quantitative content analysis (N=107 pieces) and a qualitative one, which compares the frames proposed by both actors. Findings establish there was indeed a biased pro-government coverage by the networks, as they gave more visibility and better treatment to government and ruling party’s sources as compared to those of the opposition parties, and faithfully reproduced the government’s frame on the reform.

Keywords : bias; pro-government journalism; frames; government communication; television networks; clientelism; Mexico.

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