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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.

Artículo publicado en Best's Review: World Insurance Forum, agosto de 1981, p. 53 ; Althougt my reports mainly refer to insurance activities, it is sometimes impossible to avoid mentioning politics. The mass media enable our "putsch" of february 23 to be followed by millions of people aroung the world, who were better informed than myself. I was working about 400 meters from the scene of the attempted coup, and althought I heard the sirens of the police cars, I continued working in my office for another three hours. When I finish, I took a taxi in an apparently quiet and normal town in which the traffic was not very different from any other day

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.