By Ingrid Bachmann
Representatives of social movements and political and human rights organizations protested in Buenos Aires this week in defense of the broadcast reform law that was passed last October but suspended due to a court ruling in March, La Nación and EFE reported.
The law passed by the administration of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner replaces one of the last legal vestiges of the dictatorship, but it has been surrounded by intense controversy between authorities, the opposition, and the main media groups of the country, EFE explains.
The protesters said there is a "clear social consensus" in favor of the law, and that obstacles placed by media executives have to do with monopoly groups that are trying to protect their minority interests, Mexico's La Jornada reports from Buenos Aires.
Tensions between the government and media have been constant in recent years in Argentina and have involved conflicts over the administration of the largest local newsprint provider to newspapers, and objections over the market concentration of cable TV owners.
In addition, the Clarín group has denounced an anonymous campaign that seeks to discredit the media conglomerate by disseminating posters that question the editorial integrity and independence of its journalists.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
