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An ensemble of references for mass media articles. The first section, General Aspects, includes 52 titles with commentary; the second consists of 21 references to articles published by Mexican serials from 1973 to 1977. AA.

In an analysis of the messages transmitted by radio & television in Mexico it is suggested that these electronic media do not provide genuine communication, but rather commercialism, aimed at a consumer society. Mexico is not culturally integrated, but has a variety of marginal social groups, including the indigenous population, for whom Spanish is a language of domination. These people are presented with concepts & cultural content outside their cognitive ambit. Advertising imparts the message that it is important to have money. Many who receive these messages have no capacity to view them critically. These aspects are discussed in the light of theories on semiology & semantics. A series of questions explores the relationship between language & meaning, & the aspects of power involved in media-communicated messages. Media power may belong to the state or to private enterprise; in either case, its effect on the psychology & perception of the audience, as well as on the use of language, is powerful. Developing countries are inculcated with mercantile ideas & concepts which serve the class interest of specific groups. The solution would be a greater participation of the populations addressed by the media, but this would require a change in social structure. S. Whittle.

Starting with the administrative reform initiated by the government of J. Lopez Portillo (elected for the term 1976-1982) an analysis is presented of the situation of mass information media within the general structure of the new government. When Lopez Portillo took office, supervision of the media was distributed over six governmental departments, with considerable duplication of functions; he concentrated supervision under two offices: the Government Secretariat & the Secretariat of Programing & Planning. The media in Mexico are more a means of political control than of education, a conclusion supported by a historical analysis of the development of the media from their appearance in Mexico after World War II through the government of L. Echeverria (1970-1976). AA Tr & Modified by S. Whittle.

The inherent difficulties in the process of tolerably democratic political communication are aggravated in the area by peculiar and decisive structural factors. The current situation in Latin America, not only with respect to political communication but also politics in general, does not seem very favorable for transformations to occur in the current scenario. Outside of a few governments with moderately democratic bases, the rest (the vast majority of countries) are affected by notable restrictions on freedom of information and the distribution of news, and more specifically those with political content. And while the problem of political communication in Latin America has a more political than technological character in terms of its eventual solutions, it also encounters material and technical difficulties that are almost insurmountable in the short term. ; Las dificultades inherentes al proceso de una comunicación política tolerablemente democrática se agravan en el área por factores estructurales peculiares y decisivos. La situación actual de América Latina, no solo con respecto a la comunicación política sino a la política en general, no parece muy favorable a que ocurran transformaciones en el escenario actual. Fuera de unos pocos gobiernos con bases medianamente democráticas, el resto (la gran mayoría de los países) se encuentra afectado por notables restricciones a la libertad de información y de difusión de noticias, y más concretamente de aquellas con contenido político. Y si bien el problema de la comunicación política en América Latina tiene un carácter más político que tecnológico en cuanto a sus eventuales soluciones, tropieza además con dificultades materiales y técnicas casi insuperables a corto plazo.