14 Country Report: Information Network

Traditional Periodicals

• Clarín

This is the largest newspaper in Argentina and the 2nd most circulated in the Spanish speaking world. The organization behind it is the Clarín Group and it is headquartered in Buenos Aires. It is a newspaper in the tabloid style and has both printed and digital versions. It covers a wide variety of topics, including daily news, politics, economics, society, world news, sports, culture, and more. On the website there is an option to choose either the Argentinian or international edition. Its perspective is described as center-right and in line with the developmentalist, or social liberalism ideology. It is generally critical of the current Fernandez-Kirchner administration.

It can be accessed at https://www.clarin.com/edicioninternacional/

I chose this source because of its popularity and large audience. One weakness is the huge amount of information making it difficult to decide what to look at, but the range of information covered and frequent updating is also a strength.

• La Nación

La Nación is the main competitor of Clarín, as the 2nd most read Argentinian newspaper in print, and 3rd in digital. It was founded in 1870 by former president Bartolomeu Mitre, but is no longer as partisan, and the organizations behind it are MNMS Holding and the Mitre Family. It is a daily newspaper and has similar content to Clarín: latest news (including transit and transportation, climate, and data), politics, economics, the world, society, opinion, sports, etc. Its motto states that it is a “tribune of doctrine” and its two pillars are to express national culture and support the countryside (such as development of agriculture). It has conservative tendencies, but also claims to be liberal in a broad sense (not economically).

It can be accessed at https://www.lanacion.com.ar and also has an app

I chose this source because it is long-established and has a differing perspective from that of Clarín, while being the other large newspaper of Argentina, so it will be good to compare the two.

• Tiempo Argentino

Tiempo Argentino is a Spanish newspaper owned by the Cooperativa de Trabajp por más Tiempo Limitada. This makes it unique from other Argentine newspapers, as it is self-managed. It publishes a print version on Sundays and digital on Monday through Saturday. There are many topics: general sections include politics, economics, the world, management, culture, and sports. There are also special sections on environmental activism, habitat and the pandemic, and a media monitor. It does not have employees, rather contributors/updaters are all members of the cooperative.

It can be accessed at https://www.tiempoar.com.ar/

Tiempo Argentino can act as a voice of disagreement since it is not beholden to either companies or the state through funding. It is the only national newspaper supported entirely by readers. Its greatest strength is its independence; they claim, “we do journalism without conditions”. Another reason this source is valuable is that I have not found any others with a section for monitoring the media, which is probably due to its detachment from funding-related issues.

• La Voz del Interior

La Voz del Interior is a daily newspaper based in the Córdoba province of Argentina, published in Spanish. It is owned by La Voz, a multimedia company which is part of the Clarín Group. They have local, national, and international news and a special supplement to different interest groups in each day of the week. It has all the typical sections and also has an “Agrovoice” section with news and information on agriculture, livestock, etc. This is because Córdoba, the second largest province in Argentina after Buenos Aires, is agricultural.

It can be accessed at https://www.lavoz.com.ar

This source was formed to speak to Argentinians in the center of the country, while many of the other newspapers I’ve looked at are based in Buenos Aires. Its political alignment is conservatism and pro-Juntos por el Cambio. It is valuable for its voice from a province other than Buenos Aires, and one that is more agricultural as opposed to urban.

New Media

• Council on Foreign Relations

This is an independent, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank. The organization behind the research is the David Rockefeller Studies Program. It is based in Washington DC and is written in English. The goal of the Council is to help with understanding of the world and foreign policy choices of the US and other countries, and is updated with contributions from scholarly research. The site has a special section on the war in Ukraine on the main page and then you can search by topic or region. The Argentina section has various articles about current events in the country, as well as a backgrounder page which focuses on current political and economic struggles for stability.

It can be accessed at https://www.cfr.org/americas/argentina

This source does not take any institutional positions on policy and is not affiliated with the US government. This is a strength, as the articles should be primarily fact-based. A weakness is that its primary audience is Americans, specifically government officials and professionals in related fields. I chose it, though, because the writing is high-quality and well-researched and will be valuable to contrast with information coming out of Argentina.

• LATFEM

LATFEM is a digital media site of “feminist journalism” with notes, coverage, videos, reports, opinion articles, and more. It was made by the Network of Feminist Journalists of Latin America and the Caribbean and is based in Argentina. The information on the website includes notes on violence, society, economy, politics, activism, culture, and sports, as well as investigations.

It can be accessed at https://latfem.org

LATFEM claims a “feminist international perspective” and to be part of the Not One Less movement (against gender-based violence). Its strength is its commitment to diversifying digital media, and when trying to get a picture of Argentina it is important to keep in mind its biases. I believe it is valuable because of its unique perspective from most other news sources and is a good place to go for more specific information on current social issues.

• Upside Down World

Upside Down World is a small blog with news and analysis that covers Latin America. It is in English but there is also a Spanish version. The site states that UDW is a community of writers, activists, and editors. It functioned with the support of small donations from its readers and contributors ranging from first time writers to experienced journalists. It covered social movements and politics in Latin America and addressed imbalances of power, the impacts of American imperialism, and criticized political landscapes. The page dedicated to Argentina specifically had a lot about human rights issues (especially tied to the past dictatorships) , political corruption, and indigenous peoples.

It can be accessed at https://upsidedownworld.org/about/. It actually had to end in 2018 due to financial restrictions but all of the content is still available.

This source’s weaknesses are that it is no longer current and some content could not be considered expert. It has a strength in its existence as an independent media outlet running on donations, meaning it was not biased by business or government actors. It is valuable in that it is one of the only sources I have come across to have a significant amount of content on the indigenous population of Argentina.

Social Media

• @FrenteDeTodos Twitter Account

Frente de Todos is a coalition in Argentina that was formed in 2019 to support the Alberto Fernandez campaign. It is composed of the Justicialist (Peronist) party (most support from working and lower classes, generally favors economic intervention and social welfare spending) and the Kirchnerist movement (populist ideals). This account posts updates relevant to the coalition and retweets posts from the president and other government officials.

It can be accessed at https://twitter.com/FrenteDeTodos

I chose this source because it is from a specific perspective in the national government. I can look at what exactly they are choosing to promote to the public, and on the other hand, not promoting.

• @juntoscambioar Twitter Account

Juntos por el Cambio is the opposing coalition of Frente de Todos. It is center-right and composed mainly of the Radical Civic Union Party and the Republican Proposal Party. This Twitter account posts and retweets positive updates and political acts related to the parties and criticisms of the current president and vice president.

It can be accessed at https://twitter.com/juntoscambioar

The perspective of this source then is the political opposition to Frente de Todos and the executive, while Juntos por el Cambio has the congressional majority. It is not updated very frequently. It is valuable as a way to analyze how the political environment in Argentina plays out on social media.

• @AmelieGranata Twitter Account

Amalia Granata is a representative for the Santa Fe province as well as a journalist and model. She belongs to the Republican Proposal Party, of which former president Maurico Macri was. She is an avid anti-abortion activist. Her Twitter account has recently consisted of criticism of the current administration, notices about the issue of femicide, public polling results that went well for her, and responses to tweets that are critical of her. For example, she retweeted a Clarín headline with the response “Clarín miente” (Clarín lies).

It can be accessed at https://twitter.com/AmelieGranata

This source’s weakness is being that of one person within the political sphere, so one cannot gain too much information about current events, but it is an interesting lens to consider things through. It can be used to look at political and social issues in the form of an individual’s words and actions.

Data

• Datos Argentina

This is Argentina’s government data site. The organization behind it is Argentina Unida, which provides official and updated information from the national government. It is an online database updated when new survey results are uploaded. It has 1107 datasets available for public use. They are organized into topics such as science and technology, environment, economics and finance, population and society, health, and more.

It can be accessed at https://datos.gob.ar

I chose this source because the data available can point to what the government values, and what is not available points to what they are either unwilling to share or do not care about as much. Looking at national datasets is helpful for seeing issues on a large scale.

• INDEC

INDEC is also a government source; it is the National Institute of Statistics and Census of Argentina under the Ministry of Economy. It provides official stats and the census on its website. It states that its information is a result of collaboration and primary information from citizens. This includes indicators and social, economic, demographic, and geographic information. It is available for the purposes of public policy planning as well as research and projections by academic or private institutions. The information is in the form of extensive reports and excel sheets, and there is also a section for services and tools.

It can be accessed at https://www.indec.gob.ar/

This source is open access and claims to follow the principles recommended by international organizations such as the UN, OECD, and Eurostat. There has been some questioning of its stats on inflation and poverty, however, which if true, would be due to its identity as a governmental institute. It is useful for getting basic national information on Argentina.

• Data.world

This is a new site that is an enterprise data catalog and classified as a public benefit corporation. It is a free and open access data source. Within its data sets on Argentina, there were different contributors such as the Humanitarian Data Exchange, the UN, and the country’s own data portal. Its 50 datasets on Argentina range from economic to health-related. Data.world is based in Austin, TX and is in English.

It can be accessed at data.world

This source is weak in that it does not have an extensive collection of data on Argentina, but it is newly created and it is interesting to look at what types of data are on the list, where they came from and think about what purposes they would be used for by companies. It can also be compared with the data that is on government-run sites such as those above.

Visual/Audio Based

• The Argentina Project Podcast

The Argentina Project is part of the Latin American Program at the Wilson Center. The Wilson Center is a nonpartisan policy forum, based in Washington DC. The Argentina Project podcast is hosted by Benjamin Gedan, and episodes feature experts on affairs in Argentina. Some examples of the episodes are “Orgullo”, about the recent transgender labor law and the effects of COVID on the LBGTQ+ community and “Porque no explota Argentina?”, with a Buenos Aires based journalist about why the country hasn’t fallen into social unrest despite its instability.

It can be accessed at https://www.wilsoncenter.org/argentina-project-podcast as well as on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Soundcloud.

I chose this source because of the different insights offered by each guest, so that there are a range of points of views offered. The overall perspective of the source as a US organization is both a strength and weakness, as the primary audience is government officials and the international policy community which is fairly narrow, but the information shared is credible.

• Radio Nacional

Radio Nacional is a state-run radio station. It is on AM 870 in Argentina and also has additional content on its website such as podcasts (mainly informational). Their coverage includes Argentinian news, culture, and history as well as folkloric, rock, classical, and tango music. The station also airs futbol and international sporting events in which Argentina participates.

The website can be accessed at https://www.radionacional.com.ar

Radio Nacional is not going to be critical of the government, and overall appears to be pretty tame in terms of politics. It is valuable for seeing what the government is supporting to release to the public in this medium of communication compared to social media, speeches, etc.

• RT Español

RT is the Russian government’s international media network and this is its Spanish version. It is coming from Russia and broadcast in Argentina as well as other Latin American countries. It was the first foreign channel on national TV in Argentina. Its content has a focus on the United States as well as Venezuela, and on the main page there are a lot of stories about futbol.

The website can be accessed at https://www.rt.com/news/194648-rt-spanish-argentina-broadcast/

At the time of RT Español being broadcast in Argentina, Putin said it would make Russia more understandable and promote good relations between the two countries. It can work against the monopolization of truth as an alternative information source. The strength in this source is that it can provide insight into international relations, though it is extremely biased. It can aid in understanding how Russia wants to influence the Argentinian audience, especially against US influence.

Additional

• BBC Monitoring Americas

This is a wire feed service that I found through the Latin American newsstream on ProQuest. It is published by BBC Worldwide Limited, based in London and written in English. Much of what is on ProQuest is media highlights from Argentina and briefings. For example, there is a briefing on Latin American media responses to Putin’s actions escalating war in Ukraine.

The website is https://monitoring.bbc.co.uk/country/ARG?preview=true but you must subscribe to read articles, so I am accessing it through ProQuest: https://www.proquest.com/latinamericanews1/results/4AF7A89834404D28PQ/1?accountid=9783

The perspective of this source is from outside the Western hemisphere, and more globally focused than the other sources. The weakness is the limited availability, and the strength is the short articles make it easy to identify headlining news and what out of everything happening in Argentina is considered most important in relation to the rest of the world.

• Página 12

This is a daily newspaper/tabloid from Argentina, in Spanish. It has many sections, just as most dailies do, such as society, culture, science, etc. It has both print and digital versions and is owned by Grupo Octubre.

It can be accessed at https://www.pagina12.com.ar

The perspective of this source tends to be progressivist and pro-Kirchner. It was acquired by Grupo Octubre in 2016, the creator of which is an important figure in the Justicialist party in Buenos Aires. The newspaper had received lots of state advertising during the Kirchner administrations, then it declined when Macri was elected in 2015. Página 12 has the objective of publishing more in-depth analysis of topics rather than covering as many topics as possible, compared to other daily newspapers. It shows “la otra mirada”. It is valuable for seeing how state advertising changes with the political party in control.

• La Izquierda Diario

This is a digital newspaper that is international and has an Argentine version in Spanish. It is part of La Red Internacional de Diarios, and international group of left-wing digital newspapers promoted by organizations of the Trotskyist Faction for the Fourth International. It has sections on politics, the economy, international, world of workers, gender and sexualities, youth, etc. There are special sections on the war in Ukraine, inflation, and the IMF.

It can be accessed at https://www.laizquierdadiario.com

This source is from the perspective of the PTS (Partido de los Trabajadores Socialistas) party in Argentina. It does not provide a wide view of current events in the country, but is valuable for its point of view- that of a smaller and more radical party in the country, to get an idea of their viewpoints.