The Turn of the “Pink Tide” in Latin America: A New “Decade of Fire” in Media Policies?

Abstract

At the start of the twenty-first century, the field of communication policies underwent a transformation in South American countries and became a preeminent setting for political dispute, playing a role as a clear driver of division between left-wing and right-wing forces that presented clearly confrontational narratives. On top of more traditional issues structuring the poles of ideological opposition in the region—including anti-imperialism, the role of the State in the economy and moral values—other issues emerged, such as an open confrontation as to the value of communication media, its ownership, the meaning of freedom of expression, media diversity and pluralism.Diagnostics and proposals around communication policies, their continuity or disruption hence became one of the most visible dimensions expressing and articulating competition between opposing factions. With varying degrees of “fracture” in each country, in part due to disparate levels of political polarisation and a variable capacity of political actors asconduits for the expression of social conflicts, “the media issue” made its way into the circle of the novelty issues that stirred the political discussion in the public sphere.