Media Reform in Argentina: A Case Study of International Influences on National Media Law

• In Event: ICA Plenary Interactive Paper/Poster Session and Reception
  In Interactive Paper Session: Communication Law and Policy Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

Amid the backdrop of a new wave of populism and a complicated legacy of political leadership, Argentina is the site of an ongoing attempt to regulate and diversify the media industry. Its 2009 Audiovisual Communications Services Law (Audiovisual Law), promoted by President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, explicitly seeks to “democratize,” and promote competition within, Argentina’s media industry. A federal appeals court in Argentina brought about by the media conglomerate Grupo Clarin SA (Clarin Group) ruled, in April 2013, that the law would unconstitutionally restrict broadcast licenses. Several analysts speculate that the Audiovisual Law was designed to target the political influence of the Clarin Group, the media conglomerate whose coverage of the Kirchner administration had become increasingly adversarial. This paper analyzes this dispute as a product of the complex economic, political and cultural trends of globalization (and, as such, may be a bellweather for future battles over media ownership).

Author

• Mark Princi Hannah, U of Southern California