A perfect storm for media reform: Activist strategies and socio-political circumstances behind telecommunication reform in Mexico

For the first time in half a century, the legal framework regulating media in Mexico has been comprehensively reformed. A number of far-reaching constitutional amendments approved in June 2013 will radically change the way radio and television are regulated in the country, opening up a highly monopolized market and raising the possibilities for the creation of a national public broadcasting service. Among the most relevant changes brought up by this reform was the creation of the Federal Institute of Telecommunications (IFT to use its Spanish acronym), a new regulator which, unlike its predecessor, is constitutionally independent.