Abstract
This article discusses the development of journalism and the news media, as well as their roles in governance, policy, and politics. It demonstrates how an ideal-type media system producing journalism that helps improve the opportunity for effective journalism might look. It then assesses the changing structures, functions, and norms of news media and journalism in Mexico across three different political periods. The article also distinguishes between the subfields of journalism and presents a model on how the most politically powerful media in the country have helped form the possibilities for democratic deepening. Suggestions for encouraging pro-public journalism in Mexico are also provided.