The Pro-Government Bias as Frame Fidelity. Media Coverage of the 2013 Energy Reform in Mexico

Abstract

The authors posit a method to explore pro-gover­nment journalism in Mexico in terms of media’s fidelity to the communication strategies of the go­vernment. The research design theoretically links the macro-dimension of “cascade activation” and government clientelism, with the micro-dimen­sion of institutional frames, and applies it to the coverage that the two major Mexican television networks gave to the legislative process of the energy reform, with both a quantitative content analysis (N=107 pieces) and a qualitative one, which compares the frames proposed by both ac­tors. Findings establish there was indeed a biased pro-government coverage by the networks, as they gave more visibility and better treatment to gover­nment and ruling party’s sources as compared to those of the opposition parties, and faithfully re­produced the government’s frame on the reform.