Gov't Shutters Telecommunications Boards, Polemic Ensues

[EdRooney]

http://www.ambito.com/noticia.asp?id=821011

These are two boards that are in charge of ensuring media groups comply with the law, most notably (and polemically) the Ley de Medios, which aimed at busting up media monopolies (such as Grupo Clarín). Given how the media plays a huge role forming public opinion, this is a huge step.

So what does the forum think? A good move by Macri? A steamrolling of the rule of law? An excellent way to promote Teen Wolf 2?

Talk amongst yourselves.

 

[ben]

Whether or not Grupo Clarin enjoyed/enjoys too large a monopoly or not, the promulgation of the Ley de Medios was nothing but a political hit. This is beyond obvious.And so to right this is not a bad thing. Clarin was surely not threatening democracy, and the dissemination of accurate information was surely not a concern for the last government, which not only lied through its teeth - most governments do that - but did so in a way that insulted everyone's intelligence, in Orwellian proportions.

To quote Macri, a few days before taking power: (while holding a glass of wine) "You can't take this glass of wine and say it doesn't have wine, it has water. No, it has wine. You can argue whether it's a lot of wine or not, whether the wine tastes good or not, but you can't say there's no wine in the glass". Clarin was the strongest stand against that, and needed to be protected. And the government certainly did not lack for ways to spread its line, legitimate as well as others.

In the future, one can take on Grupo Clarin if needed. But for now, to roll back the Ley de Medios is to roll back Chavez-level assault on the press.

And I say that as someone who detests some of Clarin's coverage and opinions, notably on Israel.

 

[Noesdeayer]

Ben:
Very complete and well said as is the first comentrio by Paul Phillips..Kristina and the Kompora were hell bent on "going for everything" and Clarin even though it enjoyed a large majority went against that.It is now time to roll things back and attempt to truly democratize media regulation.

 

[scotttswan]

Did they not go after the Clarin group ignoring others who would also fall foul of the act?

Either way i'm all for separating media companies from cable / internet providers.

[background=rgb(247, 247, 247)]Sabbatella should definitely go though, using a percentage of staffs wages to fund his bullshit political party is pretty shocking.[/background]
http://diariohoy.net/politica/-la-justicia-pide-reabrir-la-causa-contra-sabbatella-por-la-retencion-de-dinero-a-empleados-del-afsca-60066

 

[ElQueso]

I read the Ambito article a number of times and couldn't figure out what exactly was the intervention. I found in La Nacion that the intervention does indeed seem a bit much, though not necessarily unwarranted, as the Telecommunications ministry is going to merge two groups together.

I do have a problem with the government ignoring the law because it doesn't suit them, if they are indeed ignoring the law as it seems. However, Cristina left a big mess that needs fixing - leaving an authority behind that is using his post to siphon money off and such is pretty serious. Why couldn't the communications ministry have started legal proceedings against Sabbatella to get him out if he's really doing what is said? Is it such an urgent thing to go around an established law that was actually created in congress? I don't see Macri and his administration really having problems with the media that would cause such an urgency that it couldn't be handled through ordinary means. Maybe we're missing something?

 

[EdRooney]

The Ministry of Telecommunications is only merging the two boards (AFSCA + AFTIC) together because Macri's 1st act as President was to issue a Decree of Necessity and Emergency (DNU) moving the previously independent boards to the control of the Minister of Telecommunications. The idea is to render them useless, or at least more controllable by the President.

The urgency of this measure has specifically to do with the date 15 January 2016. Grupo Clarín has a Precautionary Ruling (cautelar) whereby it is exempted from compliance with the Media Law until 15 January, after which point it would be theoretically required to sell off things like Radio Mitre and TN to comply with the law's anti-trust clauses.

 

[Rich One]

Sabatella should be placed under house arrest for Golpista and desestabilizador... B)

 

[HenryNisental]

MONOPOLY: from the Greek mono (only one) and polis (ciudad), meaning only seller in town!
Is CLARIN the only seller of newspapers in BA?Hardly , 80 % of the local papers were K or sympatizers to them!!

 

[Rich One]

MONOPOLY: from the Greek mono (only one) and polis (ciudad), meaning only seller in town!
Is CLARIN the only seller of newspapers in BA?Hardly , 80 % of the local papers were K or sympatizers to them!!

YES... but no one reads the K newpapers..... jajajajaj like Tiempo Argentino...

 

[scotttswan]

[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]Sabatella refusing to leave the building. I wonder if he'll stay there all Christmas and miss out on some Vital Tony![/background]