Thousands of Argentines filled the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires on Monday to protest newly elected president Mauricio Macri’s proposed modification to the Media Law.
Clik here to view.
Photo by Patricio Murphy
A decree signed by President Macri on his first day in office creating the Communication Ministry effectively modifies the Media Law, as it transfers control of the Federal Administration of Audiovisual Communication Services (AFSCA) and the Federal Authority for Information Technology and Communications (AFTIC) —two autonomous bodies created by the law— to Aguad’s ministry.
“The regulation of the Media Law is not going to survive,” said Communication Minister Oscar Aguad in an interview with Prensa Latina. “Media will compete freely in the market and we will try to help the smallest.”
The original goal of the Media Law was to open up the country’s media landscape by limiting how much one corporation could dominate the radio, television, and cable services scene.
The previous government tried to achieve this by forcing larger media companies to reduce in size and by creating new broadcasting licences for universities and community organisations. The hope was that more voices would fill the media fabric of the country.
Most affected by the law was the gargantuan media corporation Clarin, which contested the law in the Supreme Court with claims it was unconstitutional. It feared having to sell off some operating licences in order to comply with it. For four years the implementation of the anti-trust section of the law was frozen. But in 2013 the court dismissed Clarin’s claims, paving the way for the Media Law to be fully rolled out.
Clik here to view.
Photo by Patricio Murphy
The protest in the political heart of the country drew masses of people, but it did not gain much local media attention. Leo Poblete Codutti, a reporter from TeleSUR English, tweeted that only Telesur English and TeleSURtv were covering the rally. An attendee tweeted “People took the streets. MEDIA wasnt (sic) there”.
Critics are calling the proposed decree an attempt by Macri to cozy up to Clarin and other privately-owned media companies, but Macri’s fledgling government claims a change to the law would not affect media diversity.
The post Thousands Protest Against Changes to Media Law appeared first on The Argentina Independent.
