Argentina's Press Under Fire - Wash. Post

[Iznogud]

Might be wrong about this but I think that Clarin had all those assets BEFORE the law was passed.

Anyone with time and real interest should study the way the past and current governments have made media, wavelenght spectrum and other communication related services available (almost exclusively one way or another) to their closest friends or those with pockets deep enough and not too concerned about spreading a little, or maybe not so little, goodwill incentives under the tables.

Study how come none of the US comms companies got significant shares or presence in the Cellphone market.
Why is it that the France and Spain divided the country in halves for the landline services, to begin with. A good friend of mine once told me that the studies made before allowing ths telecoms to take hold of the market where thinner that a cheap novel and could not begin to outline similar studies conducted in other countries. A sad, sad joke.
How did the former friends of Mr. menem managed to set foot in Mendoza and are now serving as battling ram against Cablevision.
None of this stuff is new.
Another question not asked is why no one else tried to compete or managed to do so sucessfully with Clarin on a smaller scale/local basis? What assures the public the government will not replace something with void?

 

[sesamosinsal]

Speaking of press manipulation from the pro-government media, this one is a doozy.

Victor Hugo, a die-hard K, says that the question posed by the Venezuelan guy was read off a sheet of questions provided by the American Task Force, a group that seeks to get Argentina to pay old debts.

The man's question:

En vista de los constantes ataques que medios, intelectuales y periodistas específicos, no necesariamente opositores sino críticos, han recibido durante su gobierno, ¿usted cree que existe la pluralidad de ideas y la libertad de expresión en la Argentina?

Victor Hugo shows the sheet of questions, which are in English, on the screen, never focusing in on the exact part that has been translated word for word. He says that the man read directly off the sheet. Well, in English, the question about the press is:

The Inter-Amerian Press Association (IAPA) has expressed concern over the "deterioration" of freedom of the press in Argentina, and accused your administration of executing a strategy of information control. After concluding a visit to Buenos Aires in May 2011, IAPA denounced the "constant harassment and intimidation of independent and critical journalists" in an attempt to "create self-censorship or simply attack them to destroy their credibility." Given this assessment, do you believe that there are policies in place that protect freedom of the press in Argentina?

"Exactamente lo mismo que preguntó este chico, una lectura directa," he says. Yeah, not even close...