{"id":2235,"date":"2025-01-04T17:37:30","date_gmt":"2025-01-04T23:37:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/?p=2235"},"modified":"2025-01-04T17:48:04","modified_gmt":"2025-01-04T23:48:04","slug":"challenges-for-the-new-governments-public-communication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/challenges-for-the-new-governments-public-communication\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenges for the New Government’s Public Communication"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Juan S. Larrosa-Fuentes, January 2, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

The assessment of Enrique Alfaro’s government is only beginning to take shape. Its strengths and weaknesses must be evaluated. In the realm of communication, the outcomes are not encouraging. On the one hand, it was a government keenly interested in communication, investing significant resources in this area. This enabled it to maintain a strong public presence and avoid political voids. However, it also left negative marks. Communication services were outsourced, favoring three companies that received multimillion-peso contracts; the use of these resources was opaque; the administration confronted, fought, and, in many cases, harassed journalists and media outlets; and it lacked a social policy that understood communication as a public good, treating it instead as a tool for retaining power and winning elections.<\/p>\n

Now, beyond assessing these outcomes, it is time to look ahead. With the beginning of Pablo Lemus’s administration, there is an opportunity to transform and reorganize. What challenges does this new government face? The first and most important thing is to act calmly and with respect. The government has the daunting task of rebuilding a governance pact with a pluralistic and fragmented political landscape and other key actors in public life, such as media outlets and diverse civil organizations. The government must leave the hostility and poor treatment behind, fostering dialogue, criticism, and dissent. This challenge is closely tied to safeguarding freedom of expression.<\/p>\n

The second challenge is to develop an authentic public communication policy. Local governments have traditionally viewed communication as an instrumental means of political control. While communication is indeed strategic, it is also a public good, much like public lighting systems or public universities. Jalisco needs a project to enhance public communication services. This includes, for example, completing a universal internet access project that ensures connectivity and provides the necessary technology (phones, tablets) and digital literacy training so people can use the internet to its fullest potential. Additionally, a public broadcasting project is essential\u2014not one limited to airing concerts and sports events, but one that revitalizes local journalism and news production in a context where there are fewer and fewer media outlets and journalists, as documented by various studies.<\/p>\n

The third challenge is ensuring transparent, rational, and democratic use of public spending. While defended as a driver of innovation, the outsourcing model promoted by the previous administration had several flaws. First, it was opaque: once the funds reached the three companies, tracking how and on what they were spent was difficult. Second, public resources were transferred to private companies without competitive bidding processes. Third and most importantly, the experience, knowledge, and data acquired by these companies did not remain with the municipalities or the state government but with private firms. If this model continues, it must guarantee transparency, legality, and the use of resources that benefit Jalisco residents in the short, medium, and long term\u2014not the officials passing through who use these communication resources for their next political ventures.<\/p>\n

Lastly, Lemus will have to avoid the frivolity that has occasionally characterized his public life, where he has acted more as an influencer than as a public servant. Communication is important, but it should never outweigh politics or the public life of our state.<\/p>\n

This article was published in Grupo Reforma’s Mural newspaper on Thursday, January 2, 2025, in the “Community” section, page 2, under the title “The Challenge: Improving Communication.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Juan S. Larrosa-Fuentes, January 2, 2025 The assessment of Enrique Alfaro’s government is only beginning to take shape. Its strengths and weaknesses must be evaluated. In the realm of communication, the outcomes are not encouraging. On the one hand, it was a government keenly interested in communication, investing significant resources in this area. This enabled it to maintain a… Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[153],"tags":[176,163],"class_list":["post-2235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-political-communication","tag-juan-s-larrosa-fuentes-en","tag-political-communication","xfolkentry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2469,"url":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/narcocorridos-as-a-form-of-propaganda\/","url_meta":{"origin":2235,"position":0},"title":"Narcocorridos as a Form of Propaganda","author":"Juan S. Larrosa-Fuentes","date":"8 July, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Juan Larrosa, July 7, 2025 The debate around narcocorridos has been present in the media, opinion columns, and policymaking forums. This raises many questions. Two seem especially relevant to me: What exactly are narcocorridos? And should the State regulate or even ban them? Here, I propose approaching the issue\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Political Communication"","block_context":{"text":"Political Communication","link":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/category\/political-communication\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":843,"url":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/making-sense-of-election-2016-a-political-communication-perspective\/","url_meta":{"origin":2235,"position":1},"title":"“Making Sense of Election 2016”: a Political Communication Perspective","author":"Juan S. Larrosa-Fuentes","date":"9 February, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I attended the conference \"Making Sense of Election 2016,\" which was organized by the Aggie Agora team and the Texas A&M University. The meeting included relevant keynote speakers in the fields of political science and communication, such as Julia Azari, Daniel Kreiss, John Murphy, and Jennifer Stromer-Galley. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Political Communication"","block_context":{"text":"Political Communication","link":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/category\/political-communication\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Screen-Shot-2017-02-09-at-6.27.32-AM.png?fit=1200%2C232&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Screen-Shot-2017-02-09-at-6.27.32-AM.png?fit=1200%2C232&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Screen-Shot-2017-02-09-at-6.27.32-AM.png?fit=1200%2C232&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Screen-Shot-2017-02-09-at-6.27.32-AM.png?fit=1200%2C232&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Screen-Shot-2017-02-09-at-6.27.32-AM.png?fit=1200%2C232&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1295,"url":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/analyzing-spatialization-in-newspapers-production-a-case-study-of-guadalajaras-daily-press\/","url_meta":{"origin":2235,"position":2},"title":"Analyzing Spatialization in Newspapers\u2019 Production: A Case Study of Guadalajara\u2019s Daily Press","author":"Juan S. Larrosa-Fuentes","date":"22 September, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"From 1990 to 2010, Mexican newspapers\u2019 ownership structure changed because of globalization, digitization, and financial crises. This process coincided with the technological convergence of newsrooms. Thus, this case study employs the concept of spatialization to investigate how digital technology was used to concentrate resources and thus, to concentrate Guadalajara\u2019s (Mexico)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Guadalajara's Communication System"","block_context":{"text":"Guadalajara's Communication System","link":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/category\/guadalajaras-communication-system\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Especializaci\u00f3n de los peri\u00f3dicos","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Larrosa.Temple-Research-Forum-2016.jpg?fit=1067%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Larrosa.Temple-Research-Forum-2016.jpg?fit=1067%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Larrosa.Temple-Research-Forum-2016.jpg?fit=1067%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Larrosa.Temple-Research-Forum-2016.jpg?fit=1067%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Larrosa.Temple-Research-Forum-2016.jpg?fit=1067%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":715,"url":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/18-anos-de-gobiernos-panistas-en-jalisco\/","url_meta":{"origin":2235,"position":3},"title":"18 Years of PAN’s Party Government in Jalisco","author":"Juan S. Larrosa-Fuentes","date":"9 May, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"In February 2013, QITESO: Critical Media Analysis and Public Policy and Management Master\u2019s of ITESO University, convened various professors and scholars to conduct an initial analysis and balance on the eighteen years of government of the PAN in Jalisco. After this collective work of analyzing the PAN as a political\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Electoral Campaigns in Mexico"","block_context":{"text":"Electoral Campaigns in Mexico","link":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/category\/political-communication\/electoral-campaigns-in-mexico\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/ChFvfKPWwAAgx0v-1.jpg-large-copy-1-e1462810138987.jpg?fit=500%2C388&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":976,"url":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/una-agenda-para-los-observatorios-de-medios-en-mexico\/","url_meta":{"origin":2235,"position":4},"title":"A Research-Agenda for Media Observatories in Mexico","author":"Juan S. Larrosa-Fuentes","date":"30 April, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This article was published in Revista Z\u00f3calo (May, 2017). If you want to read the article, click here. \u00a0 In historical terms, media observatories were born in the late 1990s in Brazil and at the beginning of the following decade, in 2002, at the World Social Forum. However, the ideas\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Media Observatories"","block_context":{"text":"Media Observatories","link":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/category\/media-observatories\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Revista-Z%C3%B3calo-Mayo-2016.png?fit=965%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Revista-Z%C3%B3calo-Mayo-2016.png?fit=965%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Revista-Z%C3%B3calo-Mayo-2016.png?fit=965%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Revista-Z%C3%B3calo-Mayo-2016.png?fit=965%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":897,"url":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/new-article-within-tipodos-monograph-on-social-networks-politics-and-democracy-towards-hybrid-political-communication\/","url_meta":{"origin":2235,"position":5},"title":"New article within Tipodos’ monograph on Social Networks, Politics and Democracy. Towards Hybrid Political Communication","author":"Juan S. Larrosa-Fuentes","date":"24 March, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"In recent weeks the Catalonian journal Tripods published the monograph \"Social Networks, Politics and Democracy. Towards Hybrid Political Communication,\" where was released my article \"Deliberation and Conversation between Political Elites and Social Media Users during Guadalajara\u2019s Election: a Political Communication Systems\u2019 Approach.\" The abstract of the article is the following:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Electoral Campaigns in Mexico"","block_context":{"text":"Electoral Campaigns in Mexico","link":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/category\/political-communication\/electoral-campaigns-in-mexico\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Revista Tr\u00edpodos","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/cover_issue_12_es_ES.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Hsnc-A3","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2235"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2236,"href":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2235\/revisions\/2236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}