Foreign Policy Blogs

Mexico’s American Idol…for NGOs

By Cordelia Rizzo

Tired of the erosion of the social fabric caused by the proliferation of organized crime heists and other social misfortunes in Mexico? Televisa, one of the country’s largest TV consortiums, thinks it has an American Idol-style answer for you! It is indeed quite a contest.

Last June, it introduced Iniciativa México, a program that calls for projects from NGOs and individuals highlighting Mexican achievement, just in time to celebrate country’s less-than-enthusiastically observed 200 years of independence and centennial of the Mexican Revolution. The solicited projects seek improvement in five areas: quality of life, development, ecology, justice and human rights, and government and accountability.

The response has been impressive: Tens of thousands of entries have been submitted so far. There will be a pre-selection of 20, from which five will be voted by the public and five by a group of experts, including National Autonomous University of Mexico Rector José Narro (who has been heavily criticized by his peers for his participation). The top five from these 10 will be selected by the audience and awarded one million pesos (around $77,388) each in funding. The top vote-getter will receive an additional million pesos.

Televisa has compared the project to the force that motivated the Mexican Revolution itself. Indeed, Televisa’s PR makes it seem as if Iniciativa México is inaugurating a new era in the way Mexicans see their country, as if Mexicans are so distraught by the current problems that they are unaware of what is worthy of praise. The project itself is not particularly new, for it stems from India’s successful Lead India, which was launched on 2007 and also profiles those already doing something positive for their country.

Televisa’s viewers, however, shouldn’t be fooled. It is Televisa itself that has been paramount in promoting irrationality and a sense of a rigid social order through its telenovelas, Mexican soap operas, La rosa de Guadalupe, a show centering around the belief that miracles can solve all of the audience’s problems, and biased political coverage. For decades, it has highlighted the abnegation of the poor as a virtue, promoting a passive attitude towards social adversity. Audiences even call the consortium “telerisa”, ridiculing its style of portraying reality. The truth is that Televisa holds the Mexican public in shamelessly low esteem and encourages a way of thinking that makes the public resigned to abuses of power. Iniciativa México won’t magically change those decades of damage overnight.