Press reports on the chiapas uprising: towards a transnationalized communication

Abstract

Media reports of the Zapatista uprising have magnified the event and brought it to a transnational audience. This ethnographic analysis of the news making process documents the ways in which media agents, historical agents and the audience reciprocally affected each other, as images are projected and received. The press presence shaped an image of the historical agents as the uprising began, thus creating a space in which indigenous actors affected global events. It initially emphasized the justice of Zapatista demands creating a new image of what revolution and democracy might mean. Press attention has, however, waned as the Mexican federal troops increased their pressure and the democratic process set in motion has reached a stalemate.