Mexican Media and the Drug Cartels

For decades, there has been a deadly drug war going on in Mexico between the various cartels based in the country. One ramification of this war has been that journalists have been caught in the crossfire. Not only that, media has come to play an instrumental role on both sides of the war.

For the drug cartels, media has been their main means of instilling fear and promoting their executions. Since 2006, drug cartels have been accused of kidnapping and murdering over 100,000 people! Media outlets pay a price, however, if they report negatively on the cartels. From 2000 to 2013, 88 journalists have been murdered with another 18 vanishing (Kirchner)! 

If any Mexican newspapers cover a cartel's violent endeavors along the US-Mexico border, then that cartel will respond by injuring or killing a member of that newspaper. It got so bad that El Diario de Juarez published an editorial imploring the cartels to stop and that the newspaper would do whatever was necessary to make the violence against them end. The cartels never responded (Kirchner).

Under current Mexican president, Enrique Pena Nieton, media coverage of cartel action has gone down tremendously. President Pena Nieto's crackdown attempts against the cartel actually prompted them to commence their murdering sprees (Tuckman). Since taking office, Pena Nieto has spoken out less and less against the cartels and on TV the words "organized crime" and "cartel" have all but vanished (Tuckman). 

Part of the diminishing coverage of the drug cartels is that the shock value is gone. People are not horrified when they find out about a journalist who was executed or that five media members were killed via fire squad because they spoke negatively of the cartel. As it turns out, some people actually seek out these horrific murder videos and photos via social media (Kirchner).

Even though journalists bare the brunt of the cartels' wrath, that does not mean that local citizens who bash the cartels via blogs are safe either. In 2011, two Mexican bloggers were found dead in Nuevo Laredo with notes on them accusing them of being "Internet snitches" (Kirchner). This has put many Mexican citizens on edge as people censor themselves on Twitter as a means to avoid cartel retaliation (Kirchner). The people are afraid, and with the media reporting less and less on cartel activity and journalists disappearing and dying, it appears that the cartel will be going nowhere anytime soon.

Sources:

          Kirchner, Lauren. "Media as Both Weapon and Defense in the Mexican Drug War." 11 Mar. 2014. Web. 26 Mar. 2015. <http://www.psmag.com/health-and-behavior/media-weapon-defense-mexican-drug-war-76243>.

          Tuckman, Jo. "Journalists on Front Line of Mexico Drug War: 'Fear Is Terrible and Well Founded'" 9 Apr. 2013. Web. 26 Mar. 2015. <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/apr/09/mexico-drug-war-journalists-fear>.

Media In The Soviet Union

For 69 years, the Soviet Union dominated all of Eastern Europe. It was a brutal empire that was held together by the prevalent idea that Communism was the best form of government. In the Soviet Union, everybody was told what to think and feel. There was no freedom of thought or speech. If the people tried to absorb any media not approved by the state, then they would face grave consequences ("Life in USSR under Stalin.").

When Josef Stalin was in charge, he made sure that all expressions of him through the media were positive ones. He was glorified in all forms of art and writings and portrayed as a Russian hero and savior. Some artists were so distraught that their works always had to extol Stalin that they preferred to either kill themselves or emigrate to other countries ("Life in USSR under Stalin.").

Education was tightly run by the state. Kids were encouraged to join groups that promoted social/communist values. They had a very limited amount of books to read as the government monitored what books were and were not allowed in Soviet schools. Churches were attacked and preachers were arrested as Stalin wanted no one worshipping God over himself ("Life in USSR under Stalin.").

A prominent ideology of the Soviet Union was the Soviet Media Theory. This theory stated that the government would seize control of media as a means to benefit the interests of the working class. There was no private ownership of media whatsoever. The rationale behind this was that making the media an instrument of solely the state's would produce a more educated general public. It would also encourage the public to give responses which would foster media interests ("Soviet Media Theory.").

This media theory came under fire from critics who pointed out four flaws and just one strength. The first flaw is the prohibition of private media ownership. The second flaw is that this theory allows national interests to dominate what is regulated rather than personal interests. The third flaw is that journalists in this system appear more as state sympathizers than watchdogs. The final flaw is that if the leadership is bad, the whole country is doomed. The one strength of this system is that the communication system is two-way and allows feedback, which is not found in an authoritative media system ("Soviet Media Theory.").

The Soviet Union had a tight grip on its media and made sure the people only received information that the state wanted them to hear and see. Even though the Soviet Union has been gone for almost 25 years now, its presence still lingers in Eastern Europe. The media in Eastern Europe is predominantly free, but these nations still have trouble moving past a system that heavily influenced their way of life for so many years.

Sources:

          "Life in USSR under Stalin." Web. 24 Mar. 2015. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/Stalins Russia.htm>.

          "Soviet Media Theory." Communication Theory RSS. Web. 24 Mar. 2015. <http://communicationtheory.org/soviet-media-theory/>.

Propaganda In Nazi Germany

From 1933-1945, Germany saw one of the most evil regimes come to light in the Nazi Party. Apart from promoting large-scale genocide and world domination, the Nazis did all they could to control the media and sway the German people's thoughts and opinions.

The leader of Nazi propaganda was Joseph Goebbels. In his role as propaganda minister, Goebbels hailed Hitler and the Nazi Party while painting all Jewish people as enemies of the state. He had all "un-German" books burned and produced multiple posters and films promoting the Nazi agenda. Goebbels made sure that any opinions that differed from the Nazis were snuffed out and never broadcasted. As important as it was to Goebbels to advocate Nazi superiority, his main priority was to degrade Jews and beat it into the Germans' heads that the Jews were the root of Germany's problem and the cause of the ongoing war ("Joseph Goebbels.").

Goebbels was completely pledged to Adolf Hitler. As the tide of the war shifted and the Nazis' defeat to the Allies became more and more inevitable, Goebbels goaded the German people to engage in an all-out war. He reasoned it was better for Germany to be completely wiped out if they were going to lose the war. By this point of the war, Nazi propaganda had lost its effectiveness and the Germans were preparing to surrender ("Joseph Goebbels.").

In addition to anti-Semitism, Nazi propaganda played on hatred towards the Bolsheviks in the Soviet Union. Hitler began this promotion after cunningly convincing the German people that Great Britain had been subjugated in 1941, which was not entirely true. Germany had indeed decimated Great Britain with air raid after air raid, but the great island nation was not at all under Nazi control (Welch).

Nevertheless, Hitler wanted the Soviet Union and knew he needed the German people's support if he was to undertake such a daunting task. By targeting Communists (and of course blaming the Jews), Hitler's anti-Bolshevik propaganda garnered him the support he wanted for a full-scale invasion of Stalin's USSR in June. He would need as much support as he could get because this move would eventually backfire tremendously (Welch).

Propaganda in Nazi Germany was used to promote Adolf Hitler, the Nazi Party, and the war effort. It suppressed all opponents and constantly painted the Jews as scapegoats. The effectiveness of this propaganda network was embodied in minister Joseph Goebbels, who held unquestionable loyalty towards Adolf Hitler. The Nazis' 15 years of power and influence in Germany show how valuable and influential the media can be. By controlling what the people see and hear, governments can shape their respective countries for better or worse. Unfortunately for the world and millions of people, Germany chose the latter.

Sources:

          "Joseph Goebbels." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 18 Mar. 2015. <http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/joseph-goebbels>.

         Welch, David. "Nazi Propaganda." BBC News. BBC. Web. 18 Mar. 2015. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/nazi_propaganda_gallery_06.shtml>.