The quest for democracy in communication: outstanding Latin American experiences.

Emancipation from European colonial rule did not automatically lead to democracy in Latin America. Large political organizations comprised of middle-class workers and peasants have therefore since the late 1930s pushed in several Latin American countries for genuine and full democracy. Social communication has helped to preserve the status quo of minority domination in Latin America. In part due to illiteracy poverty and lack of electricity especially in rural areas mass media do not fully reach the masses. Meeting the marketing needs of corporate advertisers Latin American mass media which is overwhelmingly privately owned and often oligopolistic focuses upon reaching the relatively wealthy and educated segments of urban society. Efforts have however been made since the late 1940s to bring mass media to and in the interests of the masses. The author describes 45 years of effort to democratize social communication in Latin America. He looks at two of the major aspects of that experience and compares the implications of those theoretical and practical innovations for national development against those of mainstream media performance.