Open Lecture: How (not) to cover the right wing: an approach from activism and media criticism
Since 2016 we have seen a growth in the organization and political-electoral effectiveness of anti-rights movements and the right wing represented in political parties, civil society organizations, academic spaces/intellectual circles and business groups at the regional and international level.
Donald Trump's return to the presidency of the United States and his alliance (both in rhetoric and agenda) with governments like those of Argentina under Javier Milei and El Salvador under Nayib Bukele are merely the most visible manifestations of this growth. Given this scenario, we consider it essential to identify the errors that media outlets, activists, and academics have made in covering and analyzing these figures, the populations that support them, and their strategies for gaining prominence and engaging in political action.
This course aims to present and explain the mechanisms necessary for critically covering anti-rights movements, their organization, discourse, and use of social media and traditional media. To this end, we will provide participants with both theoretical and analytical tools, as well as examples of media coverage that has fallen into the traps set by these movements and examples of critical coverage.
With the support of the work of the Network of Sexual and Gender Resistance and Dissidence, the team that will facilitate the sessions has extensive experience covering and constantly monitoring this type of political movement in the digital, academic, journalistic and research spheres.
The course is designed for activists, journalists, communication professionals, civil society organizations, academics, and researchers interested in Latin American democracies and digital culture. No prior knowledge of these movements is required, but an interest in critically covering their development throughout the region is essential.
Session 1: The Right-Wing Dimension: Strategies and alliances with traditional media and digital media moguls
Participants:
- Danielle Cruz
- An Flores
In this session we will learn about the current state of the right wing in the region, digital companies, the normalization of the far right on digital platforms and the real algorithmic “censorship”.
To keep thinking
What do we mean when we talk about freedom of expression? Freedom of expression and of the press for whom and for what purpose?
Suggested readings
- The articulation of the right wing and its role as a threat to democratic systems (Elvin Calcaño Ortiz, interview given to Clacso TV)
- Networks, recruitment and fascist militancy (Dialogue table in the Fifth International Colloquium. Thinking about the Right in Latin AmericaJuly 2024)
- New right-wing movements in national and global contexts (Dialogue table in the Fifth International Colloquium. Thinking about the Right in Latin AmericaJuly 2024)
- The Right and Rights (Dialogue Table in the Fifth International Colloquium. Thinking about the Right in Latin AmericaJuly 2024)
- Maidana, P. (2025) What game is Clarín playing in the Javier Milei era? Mergers, tenders and a brewing war in Letter p
- Flores, A. (2023) ¡Aguante, Argentina! en Volcanic Magazine.
- Russo, J. (2021) Screen Story in Action Magazine (online version)
2 session: The problems with false impartiality
Competitor:
- Julianna Neuhouser
In this session we will see the two models of journalistic objectivity as a middle ground between conflicting discourses and as a basic foundation of science and human rights, how false objectivity functions as a propaganda weapon, the failure of verification and the construction of counter-narratives based on science and human rights.
To keep thinking
How can we reclaim objectivity as a value without falling into old, failed patterns?
Suggested readings
- Laboratory for Social Machines. The Spread of True and False Information Online (MIT Media Lab)
- Reed, E. (2026) Anti-Trans National Legal Risk Assessment Map: Feb 2026
Session 3 – The current landscape of activism in the era of Trump and Sheinbaum (Mexico-US bilateralism)
Competitor:
- Eme Flores
In this session we will share the pressure factors that autonomous social groups suffer in a hostile international environment and a violent country, the failure of representation quotas due to the market of “representatives” and “leader training” that push activists to limit themselves to electoral politics.
To keep thinking
What opportunities arise from the void left by the collapse of USAID? What representation exists beyond political parties for marginalized populations?
Suggested readings
- Flores, E. (2024) The usurpation of identities in LGBTIQ+ candidacies and its impact on the community in Badly dressed
- Trans Visibility Will Not Save Us (Rebeca Garza's Conference at the Directorate of Inclusion and Gender Equality for the Culture of Peace UAQ)
4 session: Dehumanizing discourses and their interaction with contemporary society
Competitor:
- Mariana L.
In this session we will discuss eugenics and supremacist ideologies, the insidious ways in which they operate today, who is most affected, and how systemic violence is disabling.
To keep thinking
How can we care for the people around us? How can we fight for another possible world without relying on values based on hierarchies?
Suggested readings
- PBS. (2024) American Crusade: The Eugenics Crusade (on Youtube PBS)
- Castillo, J. (2011) Lawsuit filed in Cinia for a fair wage in Intolerance Diary
- Lanese, K. (2022) 'Black death' survivors had plague-resistant genes that may increase their descendants' risk of autoimmune disease. in LiveScience
- Puar, J. (2017) The Right to Maim, Duke Up
