Freedom of the Press Under Andres Manuel López Obrador: The Struggle Between Journalistic Autonomy and National Sovereignty, 2018–Present

Abstract

The second alternation in the Mexican presidency, this time from the right to the left, brought about new subjects and issues of contention, as a consequence of the promise of the new administration to radically alter the status quo inherited. This chapter delves into one of those contentious issues, the conflict between the will of the president to push its agenda of national development with minimal dissent and the right and determination of journalists to scrutinize it. We present anecdotal evidence that demonstrates the reaction of the government to the latter. The president harshly critiques media performance, protects members of his government that have slandered journalists, and depicts foreign agencies of freedom of the press and their domestic allies as puppet organizations of foreign countries that attempt to hinder his national development program. We interpret the stance of the president as a part of a Global South discourse about the attempt of multinational agencies of Western countries to meddle into internal issues of the peripheral nations, and the right of those to preserve their national sovereignty. This demonstrates the contradictions between the autonomy of the journalists and foreign advocates and a forceful nationalistic development agenda in Mexico and similar cases.