In the first narrative history of Mexico's contemporary press, Andrew Paxman recounts the evolution of print media between the 1980s and the present. From showing widespread subservience toward authority to playing a watchdog role as the country democratized, Mexico's media underwent drastic changes in its roles and functions.

Paxman also traces how the media responded to outright state hostility and major threats to its existence, including a war on drugs that made Mexico the riskiest country for reporters outside a combat zone, a decline in revenue as readers and advertisers migrated to the internet, and a partial return to government cooptation. Based on interviews with 180 current and former journalists and extensive research in newspaper libraries, Mexican Watchdogs interweaves critical analysis with the stories of key reporters, editors, and publishers as well as the trajectories of Mexico's leading print and online media.