Rethinking Press Freedom and the Politics of Information: Lessons from 19th-Century Mexico

In 1820, a revolution abolished the Mexican Inquisition and inaugurated freedom of the press as the new law of the land. Dr. Zeltsman explores the lively debates triggered by this legal transformation. These debates swirled around the printers who controlled access to Mexico’s printing presses and had suddenly become gatekeepers to an emerging world of free expression. Today, as powerful social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter inspire similar discussions around the world, the case of Mexico helps us think through the relationship among media purveyors, individual rights, politics, and society. No