Latin America & the Caribbean

Argentina

{This graph represents scores that have been modified by CIMA so that higher scores indicate a better media situation. It is intended to show trends over time; each index measures significantly different factors of press freedom. To see an explanation for how this graph was created, click here.}
 

Reporters Without Borders Description:

Relations continue to be strained between some of the privately-owned media and President Cristina Fernández, whose husband and predecessor, Nestor Kirchner, refused to give a single press conference throughout his time in office (2003-2007). His cold-shoulder was chiefly reserved for the daily La Nación, which was open in its opposition to “Kirchnerism.”

Cases of pressure being brought to bear by federal authorities have fuelled tension between the press and the presidential palace. But most cases of harassment and intimidation of journalists have involved provincial media that have raised issues that are embarrassing for governors. Provincial media tend to be rewarded or punished for their editorial policies by means of a politicised distribution of state advertising. Direct violence against the media is rare compared with other countries in the region, but cases too often go unpunished. A draft resolution on the safety of journalists submitted to the lower house of the federal congress in October 2008 by Diana Conti, a pro-Kirchner parliamentarian, has still not been adopted.

Read more on RSF’s site…

President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's administration accused top executives of the country's two leading newspapers, Clarín and La Nación, of conspiring with the former military regime to commit crimes against humanity, allegations that dramatically escalated existing government-media tensions. In making a claim as controversial as it was aggressive, Kirchner called on the courts to decide whether the newspapers colluded with the dictatorship to force the sale of a newsprint supplier in 1976. The clash deepened divisions within the press itself, as journalists took sides on administration policies and tactics. Political talk shows on state-owned media lambasted government critics in the press. The space for balanced and unbiased journalism was significantly reduced, analysts said.

Read more on CPJ’s site...

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