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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.

Censorship of cultural products is discussed as a form of controlling & defending a particular social structure. The Mexican law which permits government censorship (Organic Law of Public Education), & its description of subjects which may be censored, are discussed. These subjects include sexually offensive material, sensually stimulating material, libertinism, & depiction of immoral conduct. A list of 135 publications which were censored in Mexico from 1971 to 1975, furnished by the Qualifying Commission on Illustrated Magazines & Books, is given, including some which were originally censored & then appeared under different titles. It is suggested that the law permits sensationalism, catastrophe, & violence in the mass media, but prohibits human love & togetherness. This is in accordance with a reactionary cultural situation, managed & controlled by private initiative, which discourages expression of working class culture. S. Whittle.

Preliminaries for a unified theory of the role of intellectuals & the intelligentsia in the permanent revolution of the twentieth century are presented. The technical intelligentsia is included because it also may mobilize the masses. Countries presently advancing toward socialism are predominantly peasant societies, but intellectuals play a central role in revolutionary politics. While there is no world intelligentsia & intellectuals as groups vary by culture, the influence of Marxism is especially apparent among Third World intellectuals. As small groups, these revolutionary intellectuals can mobilize power & alliances with other strata, & represent a diversity of class interests. Revolutionary parties tend to arise as instruments of a radical intelligentsia; however, the traditional Marxist model is inadequate in dealing with the systematic cooptation of science by modern technology, the mass media explosion, & the maturation of public mass education. Marxism has also not addressed the bureaucratization of intellectuals in privileged elite positions under governments established by successful revolutions. There is a latent contradiction between the leadership role of intellectuals, while peasants man the battlefront. While giving lip service to struggles against inequality, the intelligentsia has not dealt with its own elite position & its priority access to the good life. Critical self-reflection is needed. S. Whittle.

In modern bourgeois society, the mass media, including television, serve as intermediaries between producers & consumers of merchandise; through advertising, they complement entrepreneurial activity. Some data on television in Mexico are presented. Eight percent (1.8 million) households in the Federal District & surrounding Mexico Valley have television sets. The areas covered by the 4 major channels are mapped. Studies of television audiences carried out by International Research Associates, with monthly samples of 24,429 households, are cited; a breakdown of viewers by age, sex, & rating points for Nov 1976, & the audience structures for specific program series, are examined. It is found that blocs of programing are directed at specific audiences & that the price of television advertising varies depending on the audience (lowest for children's programs & highest for programs directed at men & general audiences). The 20 major programs are listed. It is concluded that there is a confluence of audience, programing & commercials, & that television engages in ideological manipulation in the service of the capitalist system. 14 Tables, 10 Graphs. S. Whittle.

The author begins with the recent campaign organized by the mass media with the aim of introducing divorce in the Spanish legal system either for all types of marriage, or at least for the civil formo No type of international agreement in this sense binds the Spanish state, nor is it one of the conditions required by the Treaty of Rome for membership of the EEC. The author studies the indissolubility of marriage in Spanish Constitutional History, in which it is a traditional principie (with the exception of the period 1932-1939). This principie has been incorporated into the Fuero de los Españoles (Charter of Constitutional Rights of 1939); it has been declared a question of internal public order by the judiciary, with the result that divorce is unknown. The Second Vatican Council has not changed the traditional Catholic viewpoint regarding the indissolubility of all marriages, including those purely civil or legitimate cases, as pertaining to Natural Law. When divorce was introduced into Italy the aforementioned teaching was clearly re-affirmed by the Italian Episcopal Conference with the explicit approval of Paul VI. In the conclusions the author deduces that from the position of fidelity of the Church's teaching one cannot introduce divorce into the Spanish legislation, neither in the case of canonical nor of merely civil marriage; the indissolubility of marriage is a principie of Natural Law and lies at the root of the most ancient Spanish tradition. Reference is made to a recent survey made by the Institute of Public Opinion, with the conclusion that there is need of a widespread and intense work of education of consciences and of enlightenment of a public opinion that shows itself to be vacillating and unsure.

The reason for bringing up this particular topic possibly stems from the continuous contradictions the professional comes across day after day in the Spanish mass communications media during the pre-election phase which the country is going through at the time of this writing. In effect, the press is more and more explicit in its definitions and does not seem to be very willing to remain exquisitely impartial. Television pretends to be operating in accordance witha new phase but the truth of the matter is that it continues to cater to the same people and groups it always has. Our politicians are all trying to outdo each other in order to appear on television, and when they finally do achieve their aim . they take advantage of the situation to address themselves to their friends using the language and style of a long outdated speech. It is indeed strange that at a time when everybody is interested in the electoral system to be adopted and when the Government and the Opposition are in the process of negotiating the bases of an electoral law, nobody -at least not at this very moment, although it is to be hoped that things will have changed for the better by the time these lines are published- raises the question of setting up new and special control s with regard to electoral propaganda, apart from the demand for the mere access to Spanish television. And precisely in a moment of transition when a new and democratic system is in the process of being established, itis even more necessary ~indispensabl~ to have a clear sét of regulations which would serve to offset the lack of democratic experience and practice. It is clear that in order to come face-to-face with principies of control the first thing to be done is to find out the nature of electoral propaganda and that of propaganda in general, in harmony with the mean s and techniques in use today, Perhaps this particular aspect is discussed too much at length in this work, but the author believes that it is not possible to ignore such techniques as political marketing which is overlooked by all regulations. Once this obstacle has been overcome, the resulting concept can be analyzed in the light of the human and fundamental right to information, and conclusions can be formulated in the form of presuppositions, limitations and requirements. These are -according to the author- the principie gUidelines which must preside over any type of regulation in this field. The fact is that these conclusions were common to generic political propaganda and to that which is properly electoral. Before applying them specifically to the case of electoral propaganda, the author carries out a brief study of Compared Law. After classifying several possible feasible models in accordance with political, juridical and informative conditions, he studies sorne of the most significant cases of the types mentioned. The systems analyzed are those found in England, the United States, France, Italy, Japan and Portugal. The study of the two latter systems are the most extensive due to the fact that we are dealing in these cases with attempts at complete regulation through which the legislators have pretended to create adequate channels in order to make electoral propaganda serve the democracy being restored. In effect, the Japanese law dates from 1950, the various Portuguese laws from 1974, 1975 and 1976; these dates coincide with the implementation of democracy in both systems. For this reason precisely, these countries are especially interesting with regard to the subject matter being analyzed. From the comparison between the general principies derived from the right to information and the reality offered by Compared Law, there arise a series of guidelines for control which are discussed in the last part of the present work. Other solutions can naturally exist, but the author hopes that the ones put forth in this paper can be at least helpful indicators in the setting up of a possible juridical regime with regard to electoral propaganda.