Using Billions in Government Cash, Mexico Controls News Media
Federal and state officials wield huge budgets for public advertising to dictate news coverage, routinely telling outlets what they should — and should not — report.
“If a professional reporter wants to cover the dirty elements of what is happening in the country today, neither the government nor private companies will give them a penny,” said Enrique Krauze, a historian who edits Letras Libres, a Mexican magazine that receives some government money. “This is one of the biggest flaws in Mexican democracy.”