New Documentary on Freedom of Expression in Mexico

Here’s a murky question to grapple with: what is the state of freedom of expression in Mexico?  A good way to get a grip on the current debates on the subject is by means of viewing a new documentary by Maricarmen de Lara -  ‘Voces Silenciadas, Libertad Amenazada’ (Silenced Voices, Threatened Freedom), currently on at the Cineteca Nacional in Mexico City: http://www.cinetecanacional.net/ficha.php?cvePel=7064&o=1

 The documentary focuses on several attacks on freedom of speech/freedom of the press in Mexico through telling the (recent) story of high-profile Mexican journalist Carmen Aristegui, who hosted one of the most popular news programs in Mexico.  Her programs (in)famously featured progressive content such as reporting on abortion laws.

As the documentary begins, we learn that the content of Aristegui’s programs blatantly went against State/Corporate interests, and that despite (or because of) their vast popularity and success, her radio and television shows were taken off the air by Televisa’s SKY (in this case, because of ‘technical issues’) and W Radio (in this case, because her contract was not renewed by owners Televisa and the Grupo Prisa of Spain).

This led to a public outcry (see video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZbWiiC6qVc

Why, the reader may ask, is this story such a significant (if not tremendous) instance of a violation of freedom of expression?  Aren’t news corporations entitled to limit their content, and make executive decisions about what, exactly, constitutes ‘news’?

As explained within ‘Voces Silenciadas’, the real scandal here has to do with the extensive (and, as implied by the documentary, insidious) amount of power possessed by Aristegui’s former employer, Televisa – the largest media company in the Spanish-speaking world.

According to IPS, Televisa has a corner on 60 percent of the advertising market in Mexico and operates 225 channels.

And, as if these figures weren’t daunting enough, a bill called the ‘Ley de Medios y Comunicación’ granted even more power to Televisa and its distant competitor, Television Azteca.

Upon the passing of the bill, as explained by IPS, “stations that have already been assigned a frequency will be able to branch out into digital services of all kinds, simply by notifying the government, while potential new competitors will have to participate in public tenders to obtain additional spectrum.”

“The bill, which overhauls a media law that dates back more than four decades, also creates a committee that will study the applications and oversee the bidding for the new frequencies, which will go to the highest bidder. The members of the committee, who will serve for eight years, will be named by the president.”  Check out the article here: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32727 

And here is an interesting blog on the subject: http://globalvoicesonline.org/2006/04/14/mexicos-ley-televisa-and-tv-duopoly/

So Carmen’s story is alarming in that it is, in fact, part of a much larger movement to limit the access that people have to fair, balanced and varied reporting that is not necessarily in service of the State.

Since being ‘dismissed’, Aristegui has been broadcasting on CNN en Español.  But other victims of censorship, whose tales were also featured in ‘Voces Silenciadas’, have experienced far harsher fates.

Like the American cameraman Brad Will, who was killed on 27 October, 2008, whilst covering violent State oppression in Oaxaca: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=19485

Or Teresa Bautista Merino, 24, and Felicitas Martínez Sánchez, 21: two indigenous community radio broadcasters, also working in Oaxaca ,who were ambushed and killed: http://cpj.org/2008/04/two-community-radio-hosts-shot-and-killed-in-oaxac.php

Or all of the victims of the ‘68 massacre in Mexico City – killed by police when engaging in protest just ahead of the Mexico City Olympics, whose deaths (the toll of which fluctuates between 30 and 30,000, depending upon the particular source of information) were effectively ignored by Mexican and international media in the midst of Olympic frenzy and special-interest cover-up.

‘Voces Silenciadas’ provides faces and voices to synthesize what might otherwise remain an abstract – though horribly human – debate.  Writers and political commentators such as Carlos Monsivais, Lorenzo Meyer, Vicente Leñero and Denise Dresser are interviewed therein, and provide useful analysis of the weight of various state attacks on freedom of expression.  Some also wax poetic on the emergence of independent media in Mexico, including the newspaper La Jornada, and the magazine Proceso http://www.proceso.com.mx/

Admirably, although clearly working on a limited budget, ‘Voces Silenciadas’ features top-notch interviews, with Aristegui, who speaks throughout, emerging (at least to those who, like me, were not familiar with her work prior to viewing) as a fighting and ferocious communicator – perfectly appropriate for her protagonist role in the film.  And on the whole, Maricarmen de Lara is to be applauded for bringing to life such a hefty offering of facts and insights on a subject that does not lend itself to the camera.

At the same time, some of the individual histories of freedom of expression violations are delivered to the viewer in a somewhat disorganized fashion, which more than occasionally proves disconcerting – particularly to a fact-hungry audience member.  

 ’Voces Silenciadas’ also lacks a solid theoretical underpinning, which is a prerequisite for discussions on philosophical rights and entitlements.  Indeed, although the film was successful in pointing out what has gone horribly wrong here in Mexico, it fails to point to examples of how it could, under different conditions, go right (either by pointing to press freedoms that may have previously been stipulated in Mexican law, for example, or by looking to foreign examples of successful maintenance of freedom of expression). 

Despite all this, however, ‘Voces Silenciadas’ serves as an informative introduction (or, for the knowledgeable, debate-enrichment) to the ongoing battle for freedom of expression in a country in which the stakes are terrifyingly high.  So do check it out, as it depicts bold efforts to fight for a right that (some) Americans are only just learning that they have absolutely no reason to take for granted.