Attacks on the Press in 2010 - Committee to Protect Journalists

Americas: Country Summariescountry summariesSummaries in this chapter were researched and written by Senior ProgramCoordinator Carlos Lauría, Research Associate José Barbeito, CPJ WashingtonRepresentative Frank Smyth, CPJ’s Mexico City-based representative,Mike O’Connor, and CPJ’s Brazil consultant, Claudia Duarte.ArgentinaPresident Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s administration accusedtop executives of the country’s two leading newspapers, Clarín andLa Nación, of conspiring with the former military regime to commitcrimes against humanity, allegations that dramatically escalated existinggovernment-media tensions. In making a claim as controversial as it wasaggressive, Kirchner called on the courts to decide whether the newspaperscolluded with the dictatorship to force the sale of a newsprint supplierin 1976. The clash deepened divisions within the press itself, as journaliststook sides on administration policies and tactics. Political talk shows onstate-owned media lambasted government critics in the press. The spacefor balanced and unbiased journalism was significantly reduced, analystssaid.TOP DEVELOPMEN TS»»Kirchner accuses two papersof colluding with the militarydictatorship in 1976.Legislation would restrictmedia ownership in newsprintcompanies.KEY STATISTIC400Pages ingovernmentreport thatclaims Clarín and La Naciónmedia groups conspiredwith dictators.Many analysts believed that the administration was trying to financiallyharm the two media companies and minimize their influence, particularlythat of Clarín, with which it had often clashed in recent years. “Sincethe Kirchner-Clarín fight broke out, the government has taken actionsunequivocally aimed at damaging Clarín’s business,” wrote Silvio Waisbord,associate professor of media and public affairs at George WashingtonUniversity, in a Columbia Journalism Review article.The storm erupted in August, when Kirchner presented the findingsof an official investigation into the history and economic activities ofnewsprint manufacturer Papel Prensa. The government’s 400-page report,79