Attacks on the Press - Committee to Protect Journalists

attacks on the press in 2009americas: argentinaARGENTINAPress freedom advocates won two important victories as congressdecriminalized defamation, and a federal court issued a ruling that, while stillunder appeal, could lead to the dismantling of the government’s manipulativedistribution of official advertising. But those advances were obscured by acontentious debate over broadcast regulatory legislation backed by the governmentof President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. The measure, signedinto law in October and immediately challenged in court, apportioned broadcastfrequencies among private, government, and nonprofit outlets, while creatinga new regulatory body.The administration said the legislation would curb monopolies, making radioand television more democratic, but media owners and opposition politicianssaw it as a means for the government to exert greater control over news contentand force large media companies to divest some holdings. The debate worsenedoverall relations between the administration and the media, and fueled confrontationsbetween the administration and the country’s largest media owner, theClarín Group.Individual journalists were split on the legislation, which was based on an initiativedrafted by a coalition of civil society groups called the Alliance for DemocraticBroadcasting. The law replaced an anachronistic measure, enacted during militaryrule in 1980, that gave the executive branch sole regulatory power over broadcasting.Kirchner unveiled the new legislation in late August, saying that it would “alloweverybody to speak their minds.” By early October, after heated debate and morethan 100 legislative revisions, the sweeping measure had become law.The legislation reserves a third of the television and radio spectrum for nonprofitorganizations; the other two-thirds are to be divided between private companiesand state broadcasters. It also limits the number of licenses a companycan hold, and sets quotas for locally produced music, films, and programs. Companiesthat own both broadcast networks and cable channels must divest one ofthe two types of holdings. Divestiture and other aspects of the law were immediatelychallenged in federal courts. In December, a judge in Mendoza orderedimplementation of the law be suspended while the challenges were pending. TheCountry summaries in this chapter were reported and written by SeniorProgram Coordinator Carlos Lauría, Senior Research Associate María Salazar-Ferro, Washington representative Frank Smyth, and program consultantsMike O’Connor and Claudia Duarte. The McCormick Foundation providedsubstantial support toward CPJ’s work in the Americas.t o p developments»»New broadcast law sparks contentiousdebate, raises concerns.»»In major victory, criminal defamationlaws are repealed.200key statisticTax agents who raidedClarín in apparent reprisalfor the newspaper’s coverage.government said it would appeal.Most Argentine journalists said the military-era broadcasting rules neededan overhaul, but some worried the new law would limit free expression. The compositionof the new regulatory body was at the center of the argument. The lawrequires the new regulator be composed of seven members—two appointed bythe president, three by Congress, and two by a federal council made up mostly ofgovernors with some civil society representatives. “The regulator will rely heavilyon political appointees, and the executive will have a lot of power in nominatingits members and controlling its functions,” warned Adrián Ventura, a columnistfor the daily La Nación and a tough government critic. Detractors also pointedto vague definitions in the text that they said could allow the new regulator torevoke broadcast licenses.Supporters countered that if the government wanted to exert control overthe media, it already had an effective tool in the 1980 law. Backers includedFrank La Rue, a U.N. special rapporteur on freedom of expression, who calledthe new law “an example to other countries.” Horacio Verbitsky, famed columnistfor the daily Página 12 and president of the human rights organizationCentro de Estudios Legales y Sociales, said the law represented “a significantstep forward toward the enrichmentof a democratic debatethrough a more pluralisticaccess to information.”CPJ found that while thelegislation is an importantimprovement over the 1980law, its provisions could bemisused for political purposes.In particular, CPJ saidit would monitor whetherthe regulatory agency is subjectedto undue political influence.Despite government denials, many analysts said the legislation was alsoaimed at weakening the Clarín Group, owner of newspapers, radio stations, andboth broadcast and cable television outlets. Clarín, an Internet service provider aswell, has produced critical coverage of the Kirchner administration. The legislativedebate escalated existing animosity between the administration and Clarín.The administration and its allies lashed out at Clarín for what they perceived tobe biased coverage, most notably in June elections in which Kirchner’s Peronistparty lost its congressional majority.6 86 9