Lecture 8 Media and the drug wars PDF

Preview

Summary

Introducing media ecology surrounding the drug wars, with a focus on depictions of Mexican cartels in media. Taught by Cesar Albarran-Torres...

Description

Lecture 8: Media and the drug wars

1, Mexican Cartel Wars “The War on Drugs” Background -

Mexico as the epicenter of drug trafficking after colombian cartels then taken down in the 1990s

-

Felipe Calderon presidency 2006-2012: War on the cartels

-

Fragmentation of the cartels, balkanization of drug trade

-

Los Zetas: Military elite group turned strong arm for the cartels turned new cartel, posting videos of torture and beheading online, using media for cartels

-

New drug lords (El Chapo saga)

-

Glamorization of narco culture

-

Spectacles of death

 After Syria, Mexico is now the world’s deadliest zone -

Cartels fighting for territory in Mexico

-

Pop culture depiction on the drug war lacks accountability

2, Media ecology and the cartel wars Audiences north and south of the border -

Narco cinema: Low budget, straight-to-video movies often financed by the cartels aka cine fronterizo (Borderland cinema) Narco telenovelas

-

Hollywood and mainstream TV

-

Mexican “arthouse” directors

-

“Dominant themes in American narco cinema thus typically focus on the simpler dynamics between the good guys and the bad guys with the good guys winning, no one coming out on top, or both the good guy and the bad guy losing in the end. Subthemes include tags to narco riches stories, individual and family tragedies related to narcotics use, revence, guns and violence, and corrupt authorities but nowhere to the extent of the themes found in mexican narco cinema”

Narco TV

-

Hollywood production: Weeds, Breaking Bad, Narcos  The americans being corrupted by drug cartels

-

Latin American productions

Ethical Concerns -

Do movies glorify narcos?

-

How to represent the pain of others? Is film a banalization of conflict?

-

Are Hollywood narco productions racist?

3, How cartels tell the story Narco culture -

Continuation of oral cultures

-

Rags to riches stories

-

Narcos portrayed as modern-day Robin Hoods: Chapo Guxman

-

Narco corridos

-

Narratives situated in northern Mexico, Southern US and US-Mexico border

-

Northern Mexico: Distinct cultural identity different from southern Mexico and cosmopolitan Mexico City

Narco cinema -

Low budget “video home” industry

-

Mexican and Mexican-American studios

-

Informal distribution channels

-

Often financed by the cartels

-

“It’s impossible to deny that in the past decade narco cinema has become one of the most successful B-movie cultures in the world”

-

Popular among the Mexican population in the US

-

Film as folktale

4, Avenues for Activism What is “Activism”

-

“Citizen activism expresses a collective enterprise for keeping the state accountable to the needs of civil society” – Henrik Bang

Activism vs. Hegemonic Powers Other hegemonic powers -

The State

-

Mainstream media

-

Corporations

-

Criminal networks (Drug cartels)

-

Organised religion

-

Academic institutions

-

Financial institutions

-

Coveillance

New forms of citizenship More individualised forms of citizenship due to the fragmentation of power and institutions -

Expert citizens: New professionsals in volutary associations; citizen journalism

-

Everyday makers: Project-oriented, want to deal with common concerns concretely rather than abstractly

Case study: Digital communities and the Mexican narco wars Mexican digital media landscape -

Mobile phones are widely used in Mexico. In 2011, there were 82.38 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, or about 95 million subsription in total

Other hegemonic powers (Drug cartels) Journalists and anonymous contributors to online sites and alternative media have been allegedly killed by the cartels. One of the victims, Maria Elizabeth Macias, was found with headphones placed on the decaptated head and a computer keyboard nearby. This striking image works as a crude metaphor for how social and mobile media act as incipient if perilous counterparts to the hegemonic power of the cartels. Furthermore, the cartels have also

used social media outlets to post videos of threats and gruesome executions of rival gang members, fueling the fire of the media surroundding the armed conflict....