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DE RUEHBU #0587/01 1262121
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O 052121Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0942
INFO RHMFISS/CDR USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL//SCJ2//
RULGPUA/USCOMSOLANT
RUCNMER/MERCOSUR COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000587 
 
STATE PASS NSC 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO OPRC KMDR PREL PHUM AR
SUBJ: MEDIA GROUPS CONCERNED AS ARGENTINE GOVERNMENT PUSHES NEW 
BROADCAST LAW 
 
REF: Buenos Aires 531 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. The government of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner 
has said it intends to push for congressional approval of new 
federal broadcasting legislation. 
The current Broadcasting Law was passed by decree in 1980 by the 
military dictatorship. During the last 25 years of democracy, a 
handful of attempts to introduce new legislation failed.  Numerous 
amendments served to create the country's current media picture. 
Although media organizations recognize the need to update the 
legislation, they are skeptical about the bill's intent and outcome. 
 The initiative comes just as the GoA has stepped up its public 
criticism of the media and taken measures seen as a means of 
imposing pressure, especially on the dominant conglomerate, the 
Clarin Group (reftel).  The government has held its first rounds of 
consultations with sectors interested in broadcasting.  Reflecting 
the perceived stakes involved, the government official in charge of 
reforming the law, which will take months, called this "the mother 
of all battles" for the Fernandez de Kirchner administration.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
UPDATE OF "DIRTY WAR" BROADCASTING LAW - OVERDUE 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Act 22285 on Federal Broadcasting was introduced by the 
"Dirty War" military dictatorship in September 1980. The law is 
outdated in many ways. It states, for instance, that the Federal 
Broadcasting Committee (COMFER), the ultimate authority in charge of 
enforcing the law, is to be manned by one representative from each 
of the three armed forces that was running the country at the time. 
The impracticality of that clause has led various subsequent 
administrations to appoint trustees at COMFER, leaving it in full 
civilian government control.  The de facto takeover of COMFER by the 
national government also leaves the provinces with no say on the way 
airwaves are distributed throughout the country and results in 
highly centralized decision-making.  COMFER has also failed to set 
up a master plan on the use and misuse of frequencies, turning a 
blind eye to the proliferation of hundreds of radio stations working 
extra-legally or on makeshift interim permits. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Most of the 270 amendments to the Broadcasting Act were 
introduced in the 1990s, and served effectively to reshape the 
country's media landscape to allow for the creation of multimedia 
organizations, which the law initially banned.  The reform allowed 
the Clarin Group to become the first media conglomerate in the 
country, owner of the country's best-selling newspaper as well as 
one of the four main broadcast TV stations.  Also in the 1990s, 
legislation scrapped a ban on broadcast licenses being sold and/or 
transferred, leading to a multiplicity of ownership changes toward 
the end of the decade and to concentration in the hands of two main 
groups on the eve o the 2001-2002 economic crash: Clarin and CIE. 
Although there is more media diversity on the scene now, a 2007 
report by academics from the state-run University of Quilmes and 
University of Buenos Aires on the structure and concentration of 
cultural and information industries in Latin America concludes 
Argentina is above the Latin-American average regarding 
concentration of media ownership. While the right to access 
information is a fundamental right under the Argentine Constitution, 
the single state-owned TV channel reaches only 50% of the country's 
population, given its limited territorial coverage (35%), according 
to a report by the CELS human rights group. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Critics argue that the law has become a confusing 
crazy-quilt of amendments introduced randomly to either suit 
short-term political interests or consolidate changes already extant 
in the market.  Act 22285 barely accounts for the skyrocketing 
growth of cable television, one of Argentina's main media 
businesses, with over five million clients (and dominated by the 
Clarin Group). It provides no sound legal structure for coming next 
steps in support of rapid convergence of technologies and services. 
At present, the Act poses a conflict between telecommunication 
companies and broadcasters. While Act 22285 bars telecoms from 
entering the TV business, broadcasters are allowed to deliver triple 
play (telephone, television, Internet) convergence, therefore 
providing them a clear market advantage. 
 
------------------------------------ 
CFK GOVERNMENT CALLS FOR NEW LAW ... 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (SBU) In April, the government announced an initiative to reform 
the law. Gabriel Mariotto, the recently-appointed head of COMFER and 
main architect of the reform, has not presented the government's 
official draft yet. Various drafts have circulated in Congress in 
recent years, but with little prospect of moving forward. The 
 
Chairman in the Lower House's Committee on Communication and 
Information Technology, Manuel Baladron, said the ruling Victory 
Front majority would expedite passage of new government-sponsored 
legislation. A press report indicated COMFER is finalizing a draft 
that trims by half (24 to 12) the number of licenses a single 
broadcaster is entitled to have, and sets market share limits (35-40 
percent) to avoid concentration. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Moriotto has asserted to the press that the government's 
draft bill will closely adhere to a set of 21 points prepared four 
years ago by a group comprised of University of Buenos Aires 
academics, union leaders and the Coalition for Democratic 
Broadcasting, which advocates broadcasting reform to overcome 
perceived monopolistic practices.  The "21 points" are a compilation 
of principles that emanate from a decades-long intellectual movement 
in the region that believe broadcasting and media should be 
predominantly "public," as opposed to "private" or "state." Seeking 
to occupy the middle ground between laissez-faire, pro-market ideals 
and a firm state grip, this group defines the right to communication 
as a universal human right that includes both freedom of the press 
and the right of the public to receive fair, balanced, and unbiased 
information. It calls for policies to avoid "the concentration of 
information" both in hands of the state or the private sector. 
Vertical or horizontal concentration in the media industry should be 
controlled and the broadcasting spectrum should split in three, in 
equal shares between public (state, but not governmental), private, 
and community media. The manifesto also calls for the implementation 
of quotas to guarantee nationally-produced contents on the air. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The government has started a round of consultations with 
groups, including private media associations, union leaders, and 
academics from both public and private universities.  Mariotto has 
announced that final drafting of the bill would only start once 
these talks are over.  In what is taken by the media to be a 
political message, the GoA has brought in unionists to give their 
opinion on how the media should be regulated, with a prominent role 
given to Hugo Moyano, head of the CGT (General Confederation of 
Workers).  Moyano has locked horns with Clarin for months over 
coverage of union activities. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
... WHILE IT FUELS TENSION WITH THE MEDIA 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Despite its broad support for new broadcasting legislation, 
the media has become more critical of the administration's overall 
policy toward the press.  Both former president Nestor Kirchner and 
his successor and wife, President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, 
are well known for antagonizing media companies, sometimes singling 
out journalists by name when they disliked their coverage. The 
latest round of conflict between the government and the media came 
on the heels of its conflict over export taxes with the farm sector, 
which went on strike.  Shortly after the Kirchners criticized Clarin 
and its cable news channel, Todo Noticias (TN), of biased coverage 
of the strike, Mariotto announced a realignment of cable positions 
that would move TN to a less privileged channel.  Most media 
observers see the revival of the broadcast legislation as another 
attempt by the administration to muzzle journalism and avoid 
criticism of the President and her Cabinet.  Mariotto of COMFER has 
said that introducing new broadcast legislation amounts to "the 
mother of all battles" for Argentina's democracy. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Separately, private media outlets have been outspokenly 
critical of the administration's announcement to give more clout to 
a Media Content Observatory that runs under the wing of the 
government's Anti-Discrimination Institute (INADI).  The newspaper 
publishers' association, ADEPA (Asociacion de Entidades 
Periodisticas Argentinas), issued April 10 a statement which slams 
the Observatory idea and complains about "the increasingly 
irritating and more frequent" limitations on journalists. 
 
¶10. (SBU) President Fernandez de Kirchner met April 25 with ADEPA 
and other media organizations, including the independente media 
association, CEMCI (Comision Empresaria de Medios de Comunicacion 
Independientes), and the broadcasters' associations, ATA (Asociacion 
de Telerradiodifusoras Argentinas) and ARPA (Asociacion de 
Radiodifusoras Privadas Argentinas). She was accompanied by Mariotto 
and her Media Secretary Enrique Albistur (see para 12 on 
corruption).  ADEPA presented the President with a statement of 
views on the new legislation. The document states, among other 
points, that: 1) broadcasting legislation should be restricted to 
regulation of the administration of technical aspects of frequencies 
and stay away from content, 2) content can be subject to 
post-publication confirmation and accountability, but should never 
be subject to pre-publication censorship, 3) the state should not 
interfere in editorial prerogatives, 4) abusive taxation of the 
media endangers freedom of expression, 5) the administration should 
fight illegal broadcasters, and 6) there should be objective rules 
in the allocation of state advertising. Media representatives 
present at the meeting confirmed that the President spoke in defense 
of press freedom, but said they are skeptical that they will have 
any impact on the shape of a bill, which they believe is already 
sitting in draft. They anticipate that the government's draft bill 
will be detrimental to independent media. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Beyond the media's institutional response, there has been 
a noticeable shift toward more negative media coverage of 
Argentina's reality in general and the government's performance in 
particular. The shift is particularly visible in Clarin, whose 
front-page carries much clout when it comes to setting the daily 
agenda of public discussion in Argentina. It also coincides with a 
decline in President Fernandez de Kirchner's approval ratings, 
which, according to polls, has fallen below the 50 percent barrier 
just four months after taking office December 10. 
 
12.(U) Cases of corruption in the Kirchner administration are becoming 
more visible in the mainstream media.  In particular, a formal 
investigation has been launched against Casa Rosada Media Secretary 
Enrique Albistur, who is in charge of a 100 million dollar state 
advertising budget, a critical source of funds for Argentine media. 
He also oversees COMFER.  The case involves allegations of directing 
about one million dollars of public funds to businesses of family 
and friends.  While Albistur has drawn strong criticism from certain 
media for allegedly skewing the GOA press budget to friendly media, 
his case is now scoring headlines in leading media. Opposition 
Deputy Silvana Giudici, the head of the Lower House Committee on 
Freedom of Expression, has said that Albistur should resign to 
undergo court investigation.  Albistur is claiming innocence.  In 
the meantime, Albistur's advertising company is plastering posters 
around Buenos Aires, "Clarin Lies; Clarin Contaminates," as 
President Fernandez de Kirchner publicly critiques Clarin reporting. 
 Media contacts expect the battle against the media to continue 
until, as has been the history of the Clarin media conglomerate with 
the Kirchners, they negotiate and come to agreement on the terms of 
a truce. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) Due to the Kirchners' tendency to publicly vilify enemies 
for political gain, many suspect that the administration's effort to 
redraw Argentina's media picture is part of a short-term 
confrontational strategy designed to strong arm the media -- even 
though the legislation is consistent with the Kirchner's 
longstanding campaign against the last military dictatorship's 
legacy.  The Fernandez de Kirchner administration has opened a major 
front of conflict with an institution the Argentine public considers 
one of its most credible institutions. 
 
WAYNE