Northwestern Qatar Professor Jairo Lugo-Ocando has co-edited a book that looks at how the spread of populist and nationalist movements in Latin America and the Caribbean has hindered the process of democratization and diversity in the region’s media industry.
Media and Governance in Latin America: Toward a Plurality of Voices is an edited collection of chapters that examine the relationship between media and political pluralism in Latin America and how more inclusive media are essential to democratic governance in that region. “Our main argument,” Lugo-Ocando said, “is the necessity to improve plurality and empower voices to achieve true diversity and strengthen the overall democratic ethos in each one of the countries in the region.”
The book was co-edited by Ximena Orchard, head of the School of Communication and Journalism at the Universidad Alberto Hurtado in Chile, Sara Garcia Santamaria, associate professor at Blanquerna, University Ramon Llull in Spain, and Julieta Brambila, assistant professor at the University of the Americas in Mexico.
With contributions from scholars and media experts from across Latin America and Spain, the book includes chapters on the media and indigenous rights, authoritarianism and news reporting, media ownership, and plurality and diversity in the media landscape, among other topics that center around the relationship between the media and political governance on that continent.
“Our main argument is the necessity to improve plurality and empower voices to achieve true diversity and strengthen the overall democratic ethos in each one of the countries in the region.”
According to Lugo- Ocando, the book demonstrates how authoritarian regimes have adopted policies that influence the way the media engages with social justice issues, including poverty and inequality. “The rise of authoritarianism, populism, and nationalism in Latin America proves that one of the first victims of democracy receding has been the diversity and plurality of voices in the media sphere.” He added that “the study of media pluralism is a cornerstone of any debate about the future of democratic governance, not only in Latin America but also in the Global South and all around the world.”
In a chapter authored by Lugo-Ocando and Northwestern Qatar Professor Marcela Pizarro – New Maquilas for Old Powers. The (un)changing face of Latin America’s Media in the Post-Pink Tide Era – they write that the perceived progressiveness of new left-wing governments in Latin America did not have a positive effect on the media landscape in the region or free journalists from the influence of dictators.
“In fact,” Lugo-Ocando said, “in countries like Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, there was a regression to old dictatorship practices around censorship and intimidation of journalists.”
In general, the book addresses topics on media and communications, and media politics in Latin America, and provides a unique perspective on the relationship of governments with journalism and freedom of expression in the Global South “while also questioning and challenging theories and perspectives that at times are assumed to be universal,” said Lugo-Ocando.
This publication adds to the growing contributions of Northwestern Qatar faculty to research on the Global South and is part of a larger initiative to connect scholars studying the media landscapes of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Lugo-Ocando is the author of several monographs and dozens of peer-review journal articles and book chapters examining the relationship between media and political pluralism in Latin America. In 2020, he published three books that explore journalistic practices, ideologies, and the effect political influence has on agenda-setting in the newsroom, specifically in the Global South.
