7 Final Project

Argentina is well-recognized as having one of the largest media networks in all of South America, driven by a literacy rate of 99.51% and cultural attitudes that support freedom of information (Freedom House, 2021). The country also has one of the highest internet penetration rates in the world—more than 91 percent in 2022—with this number increasing every year as the government halts internet price increases in response to inflation (Mitchelstein & Boczkowski, 2022). Argentina’s people consume a significant amount of media, and this only continues to increase with more internet access and easily accessible internet sources of information. This media landscape is changing, however, to fit with the economics of Argentina’s current situation. Many printed media organizations cannot afford to stay in business, and the public media sites are increasingly being replaced by private ones. This has led to a very concentrated media atmosphere, where the most powerful media is a private conglomerate with ties to the telecommunications and oil business, and government support of media remains obscure at best, with advertising doing little to ensure the diversity of individual media sources.

Traditionally, Argentines greatly value freedom of speech and freedom of the press, both of which are guaranteed by law (Reporters without Borders, 2022). These ideas, however, were frequently under attack throughout the 20th century. Former President Juan Perón is a controversial figure in Argentine history, with his strong support of social welfare and the working class, combined with his suppression and exile of many political dissidents. This attitude extended to the press, as well. During his rule, the press experienced a large degree of censorship, and the regime silenced reports of dissident disappearances and other horrific government actions (Samples, 2010). Any paper or press release that criticized the regime was declared a traitor and enemy of the state, or perhaps mouthpieces of foreign powers that wanted to destroy Argentina from the inside. When Perón’s rule first began, its principal opponent was the newspaper La Prensa, the country’s oldest (and ideologically right-leaning) newspaper. The newspaper was openly very critical of Perón’s regime and policies, calling it out regularly. Eventually, when the newspaper’s criticism failed to stop and it continued to butt heads with Perón, he took the organization over by force (Samples, 2010). He monopolized the supply of newspaper print itself, so that only organizations that openly and unequivocally supported his administration could even stay in business. All of the radio stations were monopolized by the military government from which Perón emerged, and 1,600 journalists were dedicated to exclusively supporting Juan and his wife, Evita (Samples, 2010). Under the Perón regime, the government realized how much it could influence the media, exerting its power through selective advertising, propaganda, censorship, and, at times, thuggish intimidation of media sources to say what the government wanted them to. In fact, the key way that the Peróns delegitimized their political opponents was through large-scale media messaging, which discredited their opponents and illustrated the impact that media control can have on groups of people (Samples, 2010). Through his actions and the actions of those in his cabinet, Perón created a media landscape full of fear, where the press was closely watched and unable to report accurately and honestly on the goings-on in the country.

This behavior continued even after the demise of Perón, in the form of the U.S.-supported right-wing dictator Lieutenant General Jorge Rafael Videla. When he seized power in a military coup in 1976, he began the Process of National Reorganization, which, on the outside, sought to enforce control in a country torn apart by paramilitary groups and many economic woes, but in reality contributed to even greater repression. The Junta that Videla belonged to viewed journalists with great suspicion and as one of the greatest obstacles to the new regime. In the same year, the government took over the Argentine Journalists Federation and expelled foreign correspondents (Samples, 2010). Videla and his government undertook what became known as the “Dirty War,” or an effort to purge Argentine society of subversive literature and ideological opponents. Throughout his reign, as many as 30,000 people “disappeared” while in the forceful custody of the police or military, which usually amounted to executions in Argentine concentration camps and a seizing of assets (and, sometimes, children). In 1976, a reported 45 journalists faced this fate, and 30 did in the first half of 1977 (Samples, 2010). A great number of journalists were also expelled from the country or fled out of fear from death threats. The media was forced into submission, printing what the government wanted them to say and allowing for many cover-ups surrounding the disappearances of thousands of other people. In 1974 the government passed Law No. 20840, which imposed a two- to six- year prison term for anyone who would reveal news or propaganda “that may alter or suppress the Nation’s institutional order and social peace (Media Ownership Monitor [MOM], 2023). Until he eventually ceded power in 1981, Videla was responsible for the persecution and censorship of journalists, culture workers, and thousands of other people, continuing the legacy of constricted media in Argentina.

The country was restored to a democracy in 1983, and the harassment of the media and censorship largely stopped at that point. Journalists were no longer being detained and wrongfully imprisoned, free to publish and report on situations at their will. However, a lot of the damage had been done (MOM, 2023). The media was deregulated, and content production became geographically centralized in Buenos Aires.  Democratization ushered in a new, complex era of media in the country, but old woes between the government and media persisted, merely in a more evolved form. To support the financially unstable media industry, the government once again got involved, offering subsidies, advertising, loan forgiveness, and debt forgiveness to companies. These gestures were viewed with suspicion by the already-battered media companies, who did not wish to be censored again but also could not afford to stay open (MOM, 2023). Often with little other practical choice, companies accepted these efforts (especially the advertising, which still remains very common in many sources), creating a nearly codependent relationship between the government and many media organizations. Clarín, already the largest organization, was unwilling to accept government help, and distanced itself from the government to a large extent (MOM, 2023).

Argentina’s struggles with its media continued throughout the first part of the 21st century, through the feud between the prominent and presidential Kirchner family and Grupo Clarín, one of the country’s biggest media conglomerates. The organization was initially more favorable to Nestor Kirchner’s regime, as Kirchner allowed the paper to purchase the Multicanal television operator to become the largest station in the country. Clarín’s coverage soured during a tax revolt from farmers, and its coverage created a major political crisis for the then-president (Ortiz, 2010). This turned into a very public and bitter feud, with accusations of human rights violations and Clarín being connected with Videla’s Dirty War. While Clarín printed very unfavorable coverage, the government tried to take over its newspaper plant—realizing that the conglomerate had a disproportionate amount of sway with the public, President Christina Fernández de Kirchner’s administration passed a law establishing that audiovisual licenses can also be held by nonprofit organizations, that limited media concentration, and that set mandatory quotas on local content (MOM, 2023). The law was an attempt to move away from company-based forms of media and sought to encourage non-commercial media. The government, however, neglected to enforce this law properly, and conglomerates became increasingly the dominant source of media for many of the nation’s people.

In addition to these issues, the media landscape began to undergo rapid change beginning in 2015 with President Mauricio Macri’s reforms. A national deregulation of the media took place, and Macri took a “market-based approach” to the issue, so companies could do as they wished and what was most profitable for them. The executive branch subjected the regulatory agencies in the media industry to official intervention and the same decree created a new regulatory body for the telecommunications sector, which loosened restrictions on the concentration of the industry and rendered cross-media ownership rules ineffective (MOM, 2023). Because of these new regulations, in 2018 Grupo Clarín and Telecom, already two of the largest media companies in Argentina, were allowed to merge, becoming the largest media conglomerate in the history of communications in Argentina. The media landscape in Argentina is now dominated by large conglomerates of multiple media varieties (including print, television, online, and radio), and the four biggest conglomerates cover half of Argentina’s TV audience. Clarín and its subsidiaries alone contain 25 percent of the audience (MOM, 2023). This divide becomes even more stark in the print industry, where the four biggest companies cover a whopping 74.81% of sales, and Clarín alone 43% (MOM, 2023). Most of the country’s media industry is based in the Buenos Aires area, with little room for local or more regional papers (which are frequently bought out and remodeled). These companies often have connections with the economic elite of the country, specifically those in the oil industry, bringing in dubious economic alignments to an already struggling media industry. These companies thus typically have similar elite perspectives in an industry where a diversity of voices is a requirement, not a suggestion.

These conglomerates have very tangible effects on the entire media environment, especially with the economic downturn of the last 30 years. With the economy and inflation spiraling out of control, the media industry has, of course, been affected. Just in the last 2 years, over 3500 journalists have lost their jobs, and in contrast to keeping up with inflation, journalist salaries have actually decreased by 30 percent. Over 50 percent of the layoffs have occurred as a result of direct dismissals or media closures, while the rest are due to either voluntary or early retirement programs; these early retirement programs are a favorite of large conglomerates, as they are a means to make a clean and easy exit from the corporation (MOM, 2023). Despite these economic woes, large media groups in Argentina have actually experienced a growth in profit and earnings over the last few years, as they cut down on print production and rely more on online forms of media (MOM, 2023). While individual jobs and salaries may falter, the large conglomerates appear to be doing just fine, as smaller organizations continue to run at the risk of being bought out.

A possible solution to this issue is a reinstitution of anti-monopoly laws. This would have to be actually enforceable, unlike similar laws in the United States: if a business step is proposed that would merge companies and significantly change the concentration of the media market, then it should incur strict oversight to ensure that it cannot go through. In addition, there could be other initiatives (either by the government or non-profit organizations) to encourage smaller, perhaps local voices. These could include subsidies or other forms of support to get the smaller voices off the ground and running. The government continues to have a complex, often contradictory relationship with the media industry that at once relies on its subsidies but despises its apparent control. To resolve these disputes, it would be much better if third-party, nonprofit organizations got involved that have no claim in the game but the will of the people. In this way, the perpetual push-pull between media and the government could be ameliorated and people could better reap the benefits of diverse voices that have independence but not too much power simultaneously.

Diverse voices are essential to a functioning and informative media landscape. The ability to have these voices is greatly jeopardized when media monopolies exist–when only a few companies control a majority of the information in a country, the issue becomes much more significant, as those companies can very easily manipulate information and choose what they want to feature. With its economic difficulties and lack of regulation, Argentina is increasingly facing media extremes of either government dependence or intense media monopolization. If it wishes to ensure freedom of speech and information as it appears in the constitution, it will have to encourage more independent voices that are not a part of larger conglomerates and their mouthpieces.

References

Argentina: Freedom on the net 2021 country report. Freedom House. (n.d.). Retrieved April 14, 2023, from https://freedomhouse.org/country/argentina/freedom-net/2021#C

Argentina. Reporters Without Borders. (2022). Retrieved April 15, 2023, from https://rsf.org/en/country/argentina

Literacy rate in Argentina (2010 – 2021, %). GlobalData. (2022, June). Retrieved April 14, 2023, from https://www.globaldata.com/data-insights/macroeconomic/literacy-rate-in-argentina/#:~:text=As%20more%20people%20get%20a,of%20Argentina%20increased%20by%200.2%25

Mitchelstein , E., & Boczkowski , P. J. (2022, June 15). Argentina. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Retrieved April 15, 2023, from https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2022/argentina

Ortiz, F. (2010, April 28). Argentine media-government conflict turns ugly. Reuters. Retrieved April 19, 2023, from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-argentina-clarin/argentine-media-government-conflict-turns-ugly-idUSTRE63R3AC20100428

Samples, T. R. (2010, May 1). International Investment Arbitration and the necessity defense : Rulings and application from Argentina ; and, of silence and Defiance : A case study of the Argentine press during the proceso of 1976-1983. University of Texas Libraries. Retrieved April 15, 2023, from http://hdl.handle.net/2152/ETD-UT-2010-05-1486

Who owns the media in Argentina? Media Ownership Monitor. (2023). Retrieved April 17, 2023, from http://argentina.mom-gmr.org/en/