British Propaganda in Mexico During the Second World War: the Development of Cultural Imperialism

Abstract

Cultural imperialism is a blatant fact in Latin America. Foreign influence in the mass communication media is ubiquitous. Newspapers frequently accept their news from the international wire services and radio and television not only play foreign programs but also introduce foreign products, tastes, and values; even advertising promotes urban life styles and foreign standards of beauty. Local ownership of the media is rarely a protection against the avalanche of media influence from abroad. An absurd chasm exists between local needs in poor regions and the massive infusion of consumer products which have developed in and for affluent countries. Attention has turned to the ease with which news reports, programs, and advertising material have been transferred to underdeveloped countries with crass regard for local customs, traditions, and even national pride. Some accounts have focused upon the technological superiority of the industrial countries, control of the channels of distribution, the economies of scale that are achieved by replaying material around the world, and the ownership of the media (Mattelart, 1977: 37-59). Other studies have examined ways to explore codes by which inarticulated meaning is transmitted. Without denigrading these approaches it seems worth noting that relatively little attention has been given to the specific historical evolution of media manipulation in this century (Turnstall, 1977: 63). The ahistorical orientation of the majority of studies of cultural imperialism not only reflects a lack of interest on the part of historians but also the difficulty in locating sources for concrete studies of the phenomenon. No analyst has yet, to my knowledge, gained access to the internal archives of the wire services or the advertising agencies. Sometimes the countries in which these groups work are only partially aware that they have been the object of media manipulation. This article examines the experience of British propaganda agents who were active in Mexico during the early years of the Second World War. A se*The author teaches in the Department of History at La Trobe University in Bundoora, Victoria, Australia.