In the midst of a tense relationship between President Cristina Fernández and the country’s media, the concept of “militant journalism” is a constant theme of debate in Argentina. El Diario 24 columnist Adrián Carlos Corbella wonders whether there is journalism that escapes this label and questions the demonization of “militant” – i.e. openly ideological – journalists by those who self-identify as “independent.”
Inspired by a common complaint that some topics journalists are ordered to cover go against their personal ethics, the Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA) has proposed a “conscience clause” to give them legal recourse to refuse, La Voz reports.
An Argentine journalist denounced the attempted kidnapping of his son after receiving various threats related to his work, reported Análisis. Sergio Schneider, editor in chief at the newspaper Norte in Resistencia, in the province of Chaco, in northeastern Argentina, filed a complaint May 27, in which he called the attempted kidnapping part of a plan to hurt his family because of his journalist work, added Norte.
The Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA) has been elected to represent Latin America at the International Federation of Expression Exchange (IFEX) Council, the ruling body of the largest free expression network in the world, CERIGUA reports.
Coinciding with a call by international organizations for increased freedom of expression on the Internet, a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) report urges governments to support internet use as a human right, GigaOm reports.
Journalists from Argentine media outlets like Clarín, La Nación, Perfil, Telefé, TN, DyN, El Trece and others were thrown out of an event organized by the association Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, reported Clarín. A woman with the organization of mothers whose children were disappeared during Argentina's Dirty War, told a photographer with Clarín: "These are the rules of the game, you are not welcome here."
Journalism organizations and freedom of expression groups in Argentina gathered May 24 to protest a violent attack against El Guardián photographer Julián Herr, who was taking photos of the Danish Embassy in Buenos Aires for a story, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) repots.
Brazil's National Association of Newspapers (ANJ in Portuguese) has announced that it will award the 2011 Press Freedom Prize to the Argentine newspaper Clarín, reported the news agency EFE.
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has expressed concern over the "deterioration" of freedom of the press in Argentina, and accused the administration of Argentine President Cristina Fernández of executing a strategy of information control reported the Associated Press.
Gabriela Weber is a German radio correspondent based in Buenos Aires, who investigated the alleged theft of children by a U.S. diplomat during the Argentine military dictatorship (1976-1983). According to the journalist, the United States has permanently denied her request for an entrance visa, EFE reports.
Amid controversy for the decision to award him a prize, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez received the Rodolfo Walsh Prize in the category “Latin American President for Popular Communication," which the Universidad de La Plata awards every year, La Razón reports. See stories in English by Reuters, CNN, the Associated Press, and other sources.
Argentina's Clarín newspaper published a blank front page Monday, March 28, in protest against the 12-hour blockade at the printing press the previous day that had prevented normal circulation of the country's largest newspaper, reported MercoPress, Notimex and La Gaceta.