The Role of Independent and Alternative Media As Base of a Social Movement and International Solidarity: The Ayotzinapa Affair in Mexico and Europe.

The massacre and the enforced disappearance of students of Ayotzinapa's Normal Rural School in September 2014 in Iguala, Mexico, provoked great indignation and gave rise to a large-scale social movement both at the national, and international level. Although news were disclosed with some delay and only by institutional spokesmen and Mexican authorities, a part of the civil society reacted by organising manifestations of protest and solidarity with the victims, in many cities around the world.

Manifestations were not only carried out in the streets, squares or in front of the Mexican embassies or consulates. Protesters activated an independent media movement, which was used for diffusing alternative information in order to counterweighting the official media bias. Inside this "media movement" information has been exchanged through different channels: online and face-to-face.

Although there are several definitions of free and alternative media, common specificities are highlighted on issues of autonomy, horizontal organization and alternative information and different authors recognize to such media a potential of civil empowerment in social fights. Some authors have coined the term "mediactivism" or “informational mobilization”, indicating that the production of the information represents a question of fight itself, especially in situations where essential rights are restricted, such as the right to information.

Based on a content analysis of interviews and media contents, we propose to explore the role of this independent media movement as part of the social organization of the movement for Ayotzinapa in Mexico and in different European cities.