The Impact of the Media on the Definition of Votes of Monterrey Citizens in the Presidential Elections of 2012

Abstract

This article analyzes the impact of the media on the formation of voters’ opinions on the electoral campaigns and on the candidates in the city of Monterrey during the presidential election of 2012. For this research, the results of 7 discussion groups among the residents of the city in the framework of the Project on Electoral Observation 2012 were used. In the first part, some fundamental concepts for the development of the research are reviewed. In the second part, the methodology of the focus groups used is detailed and some technical specifications of the field work are explained. In the third part, the results of the investigation are presented. Finally, some reflections are presented as a sort of tentative conclusions, as the findings resize the importance attributed to the media in the formation of preferences during electoral campaigns. This opens new opportunities for new studies, more specific and focused, on a subject in which academic research still has some important questions that are to be answered.