USA

This project reconsiders the relationship between the government and media as revealed by the development of national print media organizations in Mexico before and after the revolutionary period, 1900 - 1940. Historians have long believed that Mexican journalists had accepted payments from the PRI, the party that laid the foundation for its seventy year dictatorship during this period, in exchange for positive news coverage and to cover up the government’s failings. This project challenges this assumption and demonstrates a different history of intense contestation between the state and media organizations. Instead of acquiescing to government officials, Mexican journalists founded new periodicals and used them to defy their authority throughout this time period, often at the risk of their careers and lives. Journalists remained strong activists and worked closely with politicians to pass the reforms they fought for during the revolution. It was only through the leadership of President Lázaro Cárdenas that the government was able to integrate these defiant reporters into the “Revolutionary Family.”