Latin America: Is media reform enough?

Abstract

A wave of pro-public media reforms is sweeping through Latin America. Across the region, left-leaning governments have put in place new legal frameworks designed to undermine private media control and encourage public or community broadcasting. But even as these reforms give greater voice to the people, Latin American economies are becoming increasingly dependent on primary commodity trade with China, a move which threatens the autonomous development trajectories of Latin American states. This raises an important question: in a globally networked information age economy, are democratic media reforms enough? Or should media reforms also be evaluated in terms of their relationship with economic development and distributive justice?