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M. Bjørn von Rimscha and Gabriele Siegert. Orientations of Entertainment Media Workers: Entertainment Media Workers – Disrespect and Neglect. Media, Culture & Society, October 2011; vol. 33, 7: pp. 1009–1026.

Although entertaining media content is considered to be highly influential on values and norms shared by the recipients, little is known about the orientation and self-perceptions of entertainment media workers conveying these values and norms. This article offers an overview of existing research on TV entertainment workers and concludes that the common stereotype of a primarily commercial orientation cannot be sustained across the board. To underpin this argument, results from two exploratory studies with producers and commissioners in five European countries are presented. Besides a market orientation we can also identify a creative, a common welfare, and a professional orientation. Combined with information on the work environment and the demographics of the respondents, the orientations are used to develop a typology of producers and commissioners. It turns out that the common stereotype of a solely commercial mindset only applies for the self-perception of non-fiction producers at commercial broadcasters and program buyers, while all other types seem to have a corrective in other orientations.

Julien Mercille. The Media-Entertainment Industry and the “War on Drugs” in Mexico. Latin American Perspectives, March 2014; vol. 41, 2: pp. 110–129.

Since 2006, Mexico has militarized its “war on drugs,” backed by the United States. Examination of this drug war from a critical political economic angle suggests that the neoliberal reforms implemented in Mexico over the past several decades have increased the size of the drug industry and that drug war rhetoric facilitates the containment of popular opposition to neoliberal policies. U.S. popular culture has contributed to legitimizing the drug war and making it more acceptable to the U.S. public. An analysis of selected movies, television series, and a video game shows that the themes presented in these productions are very similar to those conveyed by U.S. government officials and mainstream analysts. Indeed, popular culture messages reflect elite views of U.S. foreign policy because the media-entertainment industry is itself part of the corporate establishment.