Mass media in Argentina

Last updated

The mass media in Argentina is one of the leading media markets in South America,[ citation needed ] with a relatively free and fair press and media industry. While there are 15 major media companies in Argentina, most media outlets are owned by a very small number of large conglomerates such as Grupo Clarín and Grupo América.

Contents

Major media companies

The major media companies in Argentina are: [1]

Facts and figures

According to a 2018 joint study between the University of Oxford and Reuters, “Argentina is characterised by a strong and concentrated private media system, comparatively weaker public media organisations, and high online connectivity compared to other Latin American countries.” [2]

The same study reported that many Argentine citizens distrust both politics and the media. [2]

Argentina has over 150 daily newspapers. Over 100 commercial radio stations exist throughout the country. One estimate places the number of Argentinian internet users at 16 million. [3] Placing this on context: the population of Argentina is 44 million. [4]

The main newspapers in Argentina are: [3]

Media conglomerates

Reporters Without Borders and an organization representing Argentine media workers got together and formed a project known as the Media Ownership Monitor (MOM). MOM “investigated the most influential media in Argentina (TV, radio, print and online), with the aim to highlight who the media owners and their political and economic interests are.” The MOM report found that Grupo Clarín is the only media conglomerate that has extensive market power in all areas of the media and telecommunications industries. [4]

Grupo Clarín

The largest media company in Argentina is Grupo Clarín. The company owns Clarín, a newspaper with the largest circulation in Argentina that prints over 1,000,000 copies of its Sunday edition. Canal 13 is the second most popular TV station in Buenos Aires and Grupo Clarín owns it, too, among many other media assets. [5]

The four largest media conglomerates in Argentina cover almost half of the national audience. One of the mega media companies, Grupo Clarín, covers 25% of the national audience.

Clarín owns three of the ten largest newspapers: Clarín, La Voz del Interior (from Córdoba), and Los Andes. These three papers represented nearly half the national newspaper reading audience in 2018. [4]

After Grupo Clarín came into the audiovisual media market in 1989, it became the biggest media group in Argentina. Clarín owns over half of the pay-TV market and has significant power in controlling news, paper, film, and TV production companies. Telefónica is another major player in Argentine media. Telefónica owns commercial broadcast TV stations as well as landline-based and cell phone companies. (It does not, however, own any print media). Finally, Grupo Vila-Manzano is another large and significant power in Argentina's media landscape. The company began within the Mendoza province and expanded to the rest of the nation, although it does not have much market penetration in Buenos Aires. Vila-Manzano owns pay-TV, local newspaper in provincial (state) capitals, radio stations, and TV stations. [1]

Grupo América

In Argentina, the largest media companies don't make most of their money from media services. Instead, they make the majority of their revenue from other businesses and industries. For example, Grupo América is a media company owned by two businessmen, Daniel Vila and José Luis Manzano. It owns large firms in energy, oil, and public service supplies. One of the company's partners owns Swiss Medical Group, the largest private healthcare company in Argentina. [4]

Grupo América (formerly, Grupo UNO) is focused on free TV and radio ever since it sold its cable TV company Supercanal in 2018. [4]

The company has 28 licenses between AM, FM and open television broadcasting. Manzano and Vila control to broadcast channel América TV and its cable TV channel América 24, La Red radio and newspaper networks including La Capital del Rosario and Diario UNO in Entre Rios, Mendoza and Santa Fe. With its extensive network of media services, the company reaches about 25 million people in Argentina and thus constitutes the second largest multimedia group in the country. [6]

Grupo Indalo

Grupo Indalo holds interests in radio, TV and print. However, at the time of the MOM study, the company's owners were in prison related to a judicial investigation. [4]

Foreign investment companies, such as Viacom, Turner and Fox, mostly run the most popular TV stations. [4]

Others

Telefe (owned by ViacomCBS), Grupo La Nación and Grupo Perfil are smaller media groups. Unlike the big conglomerates, they earn most of their income from content production and publishing.

History

Prior to and during President Juan Perón’s final period of rule (1973-1974), and that of his widow Isabel Perón (1974-1976), and the direct military rule that would follow, journalism was censored and the regime suppressed release of information about the disappearance of over 11,000 Argentinians during his time in office. However, since the country’s return to a democratic government in 1983, the country became home to “one of South America’s leading media markets.” [5]

When the Perón regime first began, the country's oldest newspaper La Prensa butted heads with the regime, battling it out on its daily pages. Eventually, Perón took it over by force.

When the country's government was restored to democracy, “harassment of the media stopped.”

President Mauricio Macri, in office from 2015 to 2019, upon entering his office, created a set of new rules to regulate the country's media. His decrees also created a new government agency to implement his new rules. According to Human Rights Watch, the new agency reported to the executive branch, thus “compromising its ability to act independently from government interests.” [7]

As of 2019, large media groups have experienced a growth in profits and earnings. However, Argentina is in an economic crisis. Media salaries dropped by 30 percent or more. Over 20 media outlets have closed since 2016. Over 3,500 employees lost their jobs over a recent two-year period. [4]

Internet service and industry

In 2018, 90 percent of Internet users in Argentina got their news information from the Internet each week—a higher number than those who got it from TV or print newspapers and magazines. [2]

When Grupo Clarín (the largest media company in the country) merged with Telecom, over half of Argentinians using the Internet got their service from the new merged company. The merger also created the first ever company in Argentina to be allowed to offer what is known as “quadruple play”: landline, mobile, cable, and Internet services to consumers. All other companies wishing to offer quadruple play were required to wait until January 2019. [2]

Government deregulation and funding gives rise to media consolidation

According to RSF, national deregulation of the industry gave way to the conglomerates becoming more powerful among the media landscape. Mauricio Macri became president in 2015. In his first month in office, he changed the rules about media concentration. It allowed media companies to be bigger and larger and more powerful. [4]

The national government gives money to media companies. It gives money for advertising, financial help, loan forgiveness, debt redemption, and license extensions. This type of leverage creates a dependent relationship between the media and the government. [4]

Because of President Macri's changes to the regulatory landscape, Clarín expanded its business into the telecommunications industry. Clarín's cable division (called Cablevisión) merged with a big company called Telecom. It became "the largest media conglomerate in the history of communications in Argentina." [4]

In 2009, there were two events that are considered significant factors to the modern transformation of the country's media system. One was passage of the Audiovisual Communication Services Law (Ley de Servicios de Comunicación Audiovisual) (also known as the “SCA Law”). The other was the country's adoption of TDT, a digital standard for “terrestrial digital TV.” [1]

The new SCA Law replaced the older law, which was “inherited from the last military dictatorship (1976–1983), which in turn had been amended over a period of 20 years.” [1] The SCA Law made a number of changes. It created regulations for the digitization process within the media industry; reserved portions of the spectrum for non-profit groups; required private media companies to abide by certain “public service obligations”; gave licenses to native Argentinian communities; improved access to media for the hearing and visual impaired; created a new regulatory body (independent of the executive branch); made telecommunications license holders provide a certain degree of transparency; and banned phone companies from having media licenses. Many large Argentine media groups strongly opposed the SCA Law, and there was even a flood of litigation after its passage and implementation. Opposition political parties even refused to cooperate once it was passed. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Communications in Argentina</span>

Communications in Argentina gives an overview of the postal, telephone, Internet, radio, television, and newspaper services available in Argentina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">El Trece</span> Argentine broadcast television network

Channel 13 is an Argentine free-to-air television network and the flagship station of the network of the same name, located in the capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires. It is owned by Grupo Clarín through Artear.

<i>Clarín</i> (Argentine newspaper) Argentine daily newspaper

Clarín is the largest newspaper in Argentina and the second most circulated in the Spanish-speaking world. It was founded by Roberto Noble in 1945, published by the Clarín Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telecom Argentina</span> Argentine telecommunications company

Telecom Argentina S.A. is the major local telephone company for the northern part of Argentina, including the whole of the city of Buenos Aires. Briefly known as Sociedad Licenciataria Norte S.A., it quickly changed its name, and is usually known as simply "Telecom" within Argentina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PRISA</span> Spanish mass media corporation

Promotora de Informaciones, S.A. (PRISA) is a Spanish media conglomerate headquartered in Madrid, Spain. It is one of the largest media companies in Spain and all of Latin America, producing a wide variety of educational, cultural and informative content. PRISA owns a portfolio of newspapers, magazines, radio stations, and television networks. The majority subsidiaries and brands of the company are El País, Cadena SER, and Santillana.

Vocento, S.A., also known as Grupo Vocento, is a Spanish mass media group. Its flagship daily newspaper is the conservative and monarchist ABC, also publishing El Correo. Vocento was created in 2001 upon the merger of Grupo Correo with Prensa Española, the publisher of ABC. The group is also a player in the regional press sector, mainly owing to former properties of Correo. Through Net TV, the group also owns a DDT license, which is leased to Paramount Network and Disney Channel.

David Martínez Guzmán is a Mexican investor who is the founder and managing partner of Fintech Advisory. This firm specializes in corporate and sovereign debt. Fintech Advisory has offices in London and New York City, and he currently divides his time between those two cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1976 Argentine coup d'état</span> March 1976 military coup détat in Argentina

The 1976 Argentine coup d'état that overthrew Isabel Perón as President of Argentina on 24 March 1976, while having some right-wing elements, such as its emphasis on order and security, was not a traditional right-wing coup and did not adhere to a specific ideology. A military junta was installed to replace her; this was headed by Lieutenant General Jorge Rafael Videla, Admiral Emilio Eduardo Massera and Brigadier-General Orlando Ramón Agosti. The political process initiated on 24 March 1976 took the official name of "National Reorganization Process", and the junta, although not with its original members, remained in power until the return to the democratic process on 10 December 1983. The coup was planned and executed within the framework of the Condor Plan, a clandestine system of repressive coordination between Latin American countries promoted by the United States, as part of the national security doctrine, which generalized dictatorships in Latin America in order to maintain the control over those countries during the Cold War.

La Razón was a local newspaper distributed in the public transport in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francisco de Narváez</span>

Francisco de Narváez Steuer, known as El Colorado or Pancho, is a Colombian-born naturalized Argentine businessman, politician who ran for governor of Buenos Aires Province on the Unión PRO ballot in the 2007 elections in Argentina. He was a member of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies until late 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernestina Herrera de Noble</span> Argentine publisher and executive (1925–2017)

Ernestina Laura Herrera de Noble was a prominent Argentine publisher and executive. She was the largest shareholder of the Grupo Clarín media conglomerate and director of the flagship Clarín newspaper. She was the first woman to become director of a mainstream newspaper in South America.

Unidad Editorial, S.A. is a Spanish media company. It owns the newspapers El Mundo, Expansión and Marca. It is primarily owned by the Italian holding RCS MediaGroup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clarín Group</span> Argentine media conglomerate

Grupo Clarín S.A. is the largest media conglomerate in Argentina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radio in Argentina</span>

Radio in Argentina is an important facet of the nation's media and culture. Radio, which was first broadcast in Argentina in 1920, has been widely enjoyed in Argentina since the 1930s. Radio broadcast stations totaled around 150 active AM stations, 1,150 FM stations, and 6 registered shortwave transmitters. An estimated 24 million receivers were in use in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conflict between Kirchnerism and the media</span> Media bias controversies during the Kirchner Presidencies

The Argentine Governments of Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner had several conflicts with major media groups. Kirchner accused the Clarín Group, La Nación, Perfil, and related media of having promoted their overthrow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">José Luis Manzano</span>

José Luis Manzano is an Argentine businessman and former politician. He is currently a partner in the second largest multimedia group in his country, Grupo América, and has investments in several economic sectors, including energy, wine, and clothing. During his time in Argentine politics, Manzano was known as a power broker and negotiator and one of the architects of the success of the Menem government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">September 2012 cacerolazo in Argentina</span>

A number of cacerolazos, pot-banging protests, took place in several cities of Argentina on September 13 and November 8, 2012. The first, in September 13, was a national protest against the policies of the president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. The protests generated significant repercussions in local politics. The second, on November 8, was another much more massive protest in several cities in Argentina, including Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Rosario, Mendoza, Olivos, among many others throughout Greater Buenos Aires and other regions. There were also protests in Argentine embassies and consulates in cities such as New York, Miami, Madrid, Sydney, Bogotá, Santiago and Barcelona, among others. Its complaints were almost the same, but the difference in size was very big. The protests are considered not only a call to Kirchnerism, but also to the opposition, because they do not have a strong leader.

Relato K is the name given by their critics to the alleged propaganda that promotes Kirchnerism in Argentina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grupo América</span> Company based in Argentina

Grupo América, formerly known as Grupo UNO Medios, and also known as the Vila-Manzano Group, is a multimedia company in Argentina created by the Mendoza entrepreneurs Daniel Vila and the ex-politician and businessman José Luis Manzano. Is one of the owners of América TV, as well as many other TV channels, newspapers, radios and digital businesses throughout the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ente Nacional de Comunicaciones</span> National communications and media regulator of Argentina

The National Communications Entity is the national communications and media regulator of Argentina. It was created by a presidential decree in 2016 and combines the former Federal Authority for Audiovisual Communication Services (AFSCA) and the Federal Authority for Information and Communication Technologies.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Becerra, Martín; Marino, Santiago; Mastrini, Guillermo (2012-02-29). "Mapping Digital Media: Argentina" (PDF). Open Society Foundation.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Argentina". Digital News Report. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
  3. 1 2 "Media in Argentina: Newspapers, Internet, Radio & T.V." Retrieved 2020-03-18.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Argentina's media: Big business for a few | Reporters without borders". RSF. 2019-04-10. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
  5. 1 2 "Argentina - History of the mass media". www.amautaspanish.com. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
  6. ↑ Seifert, Daniel (February 10, 2012). "Jugosa cosecha de Manzano". Noticias. Archived from the original on October 27, 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  7. ↑ "World Report 2019: Rights Trends in Argentina". Human Rights Watch. 2018-12-20. Retrieved 2020-03-18.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.