ABSTRACT

During the second half of the 1990s, Mexico made the transition from a one-party, autocratic regime to a multiparty electoral democracy (Bruhn et al., 2001; Camp, 1996; Cornelius, 1996; Eisenstadt 2004; Lawson, 2000; Middlebrook, 2004). Mass media play a crucial role in this new democratic system, especially during electoral campaigns (Hughes 2006; Lawson, 2003; Lawson & McCann, 2005). Both broadcasters and publishers devote substantial coverage to candidates and elections, even outside of the official campaign season. Partisan advertising also figures heavily in these contests, especially in presidential races, as political parties receive ample public funds to disseminate their appeals. Candidates from all three of Mexico’s main political parties—the conservative National Action Party (PAN), the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), and the once-dominant, ideologically amorphous Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)—receive ample attention.