De Mal en Peor: The Framing of Felipe Calderón’s “War on Drugs” in the United States and Mexican Print Media

This work was written to explore the print media’s portrayal of the Mexican war on drugs started by Felipe Calderon in 2006. In order to do this, I looked at both Mexican and U.S. print media sources to compare coverage and to ascertain the frames that the media employs when covering the drug war. I analyzed national newspapers in both countries and also analyzed coverage of specific events in pairs of U.S. and Mexican city, namely Tijuana and San Diego, and Ciudad Juarez and El Paso. In my analysis frames of “war” were used repeatedly and national biases were seen on both sides. I conclude by arguing that the print media has amplified and exacerbated the “war” discourse that is used when discussing the problem of drug trafficking and organized crime. This frame used by the print media could in turn have serious implications for all kinds of policy dealing with Mexico such as immigration policy, drug policy, and border security policy because it is seen as a threat to the state. I use political theory to demonstrate how the war on drugs could be seen as a threat to the state. Because of this policy responses could be more militarized and more emphasis on security may be thought necessary because of the framing of this discourse