Committee to Protect Journalists - Argentina

CPJ urges OAS not to weaken human rights system

2013-03-18T16:40:37Z

Dear OAS Ministers of Foreign Affairs: Ahead of the assembly of the Organization of American States on Friday, the Committee to Protect Journalists urges you to oppose any attempts to debilitate the regional human rights system. The failure of member states to preserve the autonomy and independence of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and its special rapporteur on freedom of expression would make citizens throughout the hemisphere more vulnerable to human rights violations and represent a blow to democracy in the Americas.

Attacks on the Press in 2012: Argentina

2013-02-14T05:04:51Z

Disputes between Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s government and top media outlets intensified. Despite a Supreme Court ruling that ordered equitable distribution of state advertising, Kirchner’s government continued to withhold government ads from outlets critical of her administration, while lavishing business on those that provided favorable coverage, a CPJ special report found. Both the justice department and a federal appeals court fined the executive branch for ignoring the ruling, but the government showed no intention of complying. The administration also continued its practice of attacking and insulting journalists and executives associated with the country’s two principal media companies, Clarín and La Nación, sometimes using smear campaigns on public television shows. Those media groups, in turn, relentlessly criticized the government. The result was a highly polarized climate, with outlets devoting considerable coverage to discrediting one another, and citizens being deprived of objective sources of information on vital issues of public interest.

In Argentina, two local journalists attacked within a week

2012-08-21T20:59:20Z

New York, August 21, 2012--Authorities in Argentina must immediately investigate violent attacks on two local journalists and ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The unrelated attacks occurred within the space of a week.

Unknown gunman threatens Argentine journalist

2012-05-30T19:15:40Z

New York, May 30, 2012--Authorities in Argentina must immediately investigate death threats made against a local radio journalist and ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Attacks on the Press in 2011: Argentina

2012-02-21T05:37:00Z

The Supreme Court of Justice ruled in March that the government should apply reasonable balance in the distribution of state advertising. Ruling in a case brought in 2006 by Editorial Perfil, the country's largest magazine publisher, the court sought to rein in the government's long-standing practice of rewarding supportive news media with state advertising while punishing critical media by withholdings ads. Nonetheless, Perfil and other critics alleged that President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who won re-election in October, continued the system of unequal distribution. Relations between Grupo Clarín, the nation's largest media conglomerate, and the Kirchner government worsened in March after demonstrators, including members of the Teamsters, blocked trucking exits at Clarín's printing facilities, preventing the paper from distributing its Sunday edition. In December, Kirchner signed a measure bringing the country's sole newsprint manufacturer, Papel Prensa, under government regulation. Publishers groups said it was another attack on Clarín and La Nación, which own a majority stake in the company. Circulation of the national daily La Nación was also disrupted for several hours. The local press group Foro de Periodismo Argentino documented a series of abuses in the country's interior, including an attack on a radio journalist, a case of arson, and an episode in which a camera crew was fired upon. A federal court sentenced 16 former military members in October to jail terms ranging from 18 years to life in prison for the murder of journalist Rodolfo Walsh and 85 others during the 1976-83 Argentine dictatorship.

Menem misuses privacy claim, CPJ says in IACHR brief

2011-09-12T13:23:51Z

New York, September 12, 2011--A lawsuit alleging invasion of privacy brought by Argentina's former president, Carlos Saúl Menem, against two journalists with the local newsweekly Noticias violates Article 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights, the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a legal brief filed Friday before the Costa Rica-based Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

This is the first case brought in the Inter-American system that involves a privacy claim stemming from a report on matters of public concern. CPJ believes it is vital for the court to set a precedent of protecting journalists' rights at a time when leaders in Latin America and around the world are using a barrage of legal actions to stifle critical reporting.

Argentina should halt obstruction of top dailies

2011-03-29T20:26:48Z

New York, March 29, 2011--The Argentine government should ensure that the nation's two largest dailies can be distributed without interference, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ's appeal comes two days after union demonstrators blocked trucking exits at the printing facilities of Clarín and La Nación, preventing Clarín from distributing its Sunday edition.

Supreme Court tells Argentina to avoid bias in allocating ads

2011-03-04T18:33:35Z

New York, March 4, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists hails a ruling by Argentina's Supreme Court that calls for the omission of discriminatory criteria and "reasonable balance" in the allocation of state advertising. The ruling stems from a 2006 injunction filed by Editorial Perfil, the country's largest magazine publisher, claiming arbitrary distribution of official advertising.

Attacks on the Press 2010: Americas Analysis

2011-02-15T05:54:00Z

In Latin America, A Return of Censorship

By Carlos Lauría

As the preeminent political family in the northeastern state of Maranhão for more than 40 years, the Sarneys are used to getting their way in Brazilian civic life. So when the leading national daily O Estado de S. Paulo published allegations in June 2009 that linked José Sarney, the Senate president and the nation's former leader, to nepotism and corruption, the political clan did not sit idly by. The Sarneys turned to a judge in Brasília, winning an injunction that halted O Estado from publishing any more reports about the allegations. Eighteen months later, as 2010 came to a close, the ban remained in effect despite domestic and international outcry.

Attacks on the Press 2010: Argentina

2011-02-15T05:48:00Z

Top Developments
• Kirchner accuses two papers of colluding with the military dictatorship in 1976.
• Legislation would restrict media ownership in newsprint companies.

Key Statistic
400: Pages in government report that claims Clarín and La Nación media groups conspired with dictators.

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.

Journalist stabbed to death in Buenos Aires

2010-09-10T19:44:55Z

New York, September 10, 2010--Unidentified assailants stabbed reporter Adams Ledesma Valenzuela to death in an impoverished neighborhood in Buenos Aires on Saturday, local and international press reported. The Committee to Protect Journalists called on local authorities today to fully investigate the murder and to bring all those responsible to justice.

In the Americas, Big Brother is watching reporters

2010-02-16T05:56:00Z

By Carlos Lauría

The topic being investigated by two Colombian reporters was explosive enough that it required unusual security. Fearful that the subjects would learn prematurely of the story, the reporters took separate notes, which they did not share and which they later destroyed. They didn’t communicate by telephone or e-mail, and they met only in public locations. They relayed only the barest information to their own sources.

Attacks on the Press 2009: Argentina

2010-02-16T05:51:00Z

Top Developments
• New broadcast law sparks contentious debate, raises concerns.
• In major victory, criminal defamation laws are repealed.

Key Statistic
200: Tax agents who raided Clarín in apparent reprisal for the newspaper’s coverage.

Press freedom advocates won two important victories as congress decriminalized defamation, and a federal court issued a ruling that, while still under appeal, could lead to the dismantling of the government’s manipulative distribution of official advertising. But those advances were obscured by a contentious debate over broadcast regulatory legislation backed by the government of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. The measure, signed into law in October and immediately challenged in court, apportioned broadcast frequencies among private, government, and nonprofit outlets, while creating a new regulatory body.

CPJ to monitor implementation of Argentine broadcast law

2009-12-08T20:41:45Z

New York, December 8, 2009—The proposed appointment of four members of a seven-person Argentine media regulatory agency created under a government-sponsored broadcast law raises concerns about its independence, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ will monitor the law’s implementation to ensure that the agency is not subjected to undue political interference.

Criminal defamation eliminated in Argentina

2009-11-19T17:03:57Z

We issued the following statement today in response to Wednesday’s approval by the Argentine Senate of a government-sponsored bill that repeals criminal defamation provisions from the penal code...