Argentina / Americas

  

In government-media fight, Argentine journalism suffers

In the pitched battle between Cristina Kirchner’s administration and critical media outlets such as those owned by Grupo Clarín, the very credibility of journalism is at stake. Argentine citizens are deprived of objective sources of information on vital political and economic issues. A CPJ special report by Sara Rafsky

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In Argentina, two local journalists attacked within a week

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. 

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Unknown gunman threatens Argentine journalist

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. 

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Attacks on the Press in 2011: Argentina

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…

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Photojournalists raise photos of José Luis Cabezas as thousands gathered in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, February 25, 1997, to protest Cabezas' murder the previous month. (AP/Daniel Muzio)

Cabezas’ convicted killers are free, 15 years after murder

It was a cold winter morning more than 15 years ago. As part of my daily routine as a foreign correspondent, I opened my laptop to read the Argentine papers. I was shocked by a headline: my colleague José Luis Cabezas, a photographer for the newsweekly magazine Noticias, had been murdered. His bullet-ridden body was…

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Newsprint manufacturer Papel Prensa is the recent focus of an ongoing battle between two dailies and Argentina's government. (AP/Natacha Pisarenko)

Both sides cry ‘press freedom!’ in Argentine newsprint battle

Argentine Secretary of Commerce Guillermo Moreno made headlines in August 2010 when, at a meeting with the directors of newsprint manufacturer Papel Prensa, he whipped out a pair of boxing gloves, told the women present to clear out of the way, and after dimming the lights, challenged the men to a fight. Moreno’s invitation to…

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Fighting abusive litigation against journalists

CPJ and others who defend the rights of journalists are rightly alarmed when public officials and other powerful figures instigate baseless criminal prosecutions that can send journalists to prison and force them to pay heavy fines. A case pending in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Fontevecchia & D’Amico vs. Argentina, shows how abusive civil litigation…

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Carlos Saúl Menem, former president of Argentina. (AP)

Menem misuses privacy claim, CPJ says in IACHR brief

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…

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Venezuela's Hugo Chavez holds up a free expression prize from Argentina's University of La Plata in La Plata. (AP/Jorge Araujo)

Hugo Chávez, free expression prize winner

Just as the awardee himself anticipated (in his subconscious, after all, he is no idiot), this “freedom of expression award” stirred up disapproval and indignation across the board. Notwithstanding, no one should question the decision of Argentina’s University of La Plata. If anyone has freedom of expression in Venezuela, it’s the prize-winner: He talks and…

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Argentina should halt obstruction of top dailies

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. 

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