Mexican Watchdogs: The Rise of a Critical Press since the 1980s

by Andrew Paxman

Overview

In the first narrative history of Mexico’s contemporary press, Andrew Paxman recounts the evolution of print media between the 1980s and the present. From showing widespread subservience toward authority to playing a watchdog role as the country democratized, Mexico’s media underwent drastic changes in its roles and functions.

Paxman also traces how the media responded to outright state hostility and major threats to its existence, including a war on drugs that made Mexico the riskiest country for reporters outside a combat zone, a decline in revenue as readers and advertisers migrated to the internet, and a partial return to government cooptation. Based on interviews with 180 current and former journalists and extensive research in newspaper libraries, Mexican Watchdogs interweaves critical analysis with the stories of key reporters, editors, and publishers as well as the trajectories of Mexico’s leading print and online media.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781469684987
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	10/28/2025
Pages:	380
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Andrew Paxman is research professor of history and journalism at the Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE) in Mexico.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Paxman has gifted us an extraordinarily detailed and impeccably written book on the rise (and fall) of Mexico’s free press. Historians, media scholars, and political scientists will use this book as a bible for years to come.”—Benjamin T. Smith, author of The Dope: The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade

Editorial Reviews

“Paxman has gifted us an extraordinarily detailed and impeccably written book on the rise (and fall) of Mexico’s free press. Historians, media scholars, and political scientists will use this book as a bible for years to come.”—Benjamin T. Smith, author of The Dope: The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade

“Paxman, with firsthand experience in Mexican newsrooms, crafts a multilayered story of the media navigating the country’s turbulent transition from single-party rule to a fragile democracy. Rich anecdotes and academic rigor bring nuance to the complex relationship between the press, politicians, and powerful economic interests.”—Mireya Márquez Ramírez, coeditor of Media Systems and Communication Policies in Latin America

“Andrew Paxman provides unparalleled geographical, biographical, and temporal depth to the history of press resilience in Mexico in this definitive account of the ongoing struggle to hold authority accountable and sustain public trust.” —Martin Echeverría, editor of Media and Politics in Post-Authoritarian Mexico: The Continuing Struggle for Democracy

“Set against the landscape of powerful private monopolies, the ascendance of the internet, and violence against reporters, this highly readable story of the inner workings of Mexico’s major media institutions and contemporary journalism will resonate far beyond Mexico.” — Vanessa Freije, author of Citizens of Scandal: Journalists, Secrecy, and the Politics of Reckoning in Mexico

From the Publisher