Still Dreaming of Democracy: How Professional Identities from the Political Opening Shape Risk and Resiliency in Democratic Mexico

Abstract

Earlier research on Mexican journalism highlights the importance of normative drivers of institutional change during the country’s political transition from the 1980s through the early 2000s. In the late twentieth century, alternative values and worldviews motivated a sector of Mexico’s journalists to reorient occupational norms in journalism toward the country’s strengthening civil society, in contrast to an institutionalized form of journalism articulated with Mexico’s 71-year single party dominant political regime. In this chapter, I argue that the bundle of occupational norms, values, and worldviews that were legitimized for journalists during the democratic opening have become a basis of professional identity two decades later. Professional identities founded on the belief that journalism should contribute to democratic accountability and human rights create a framework within which daily decisions are made. They shape how journalism practice may contribute to democracy, but also influence the ability of journalists to stay physically safe and emotional resilient in a period that has become more dangerous than during the political transition.