Latin America & the Caribbean

Radio y Televisión Argentina (RTA) is state-owned.

RTA is administrated by the Secretariate of Media and Public Communications. Juan Francisco Meritello has been Secretary of Media and Public Communication since his appointment in 2019.

The 2009 law which established the RTA states that its executive board should consist of seven appointed members. The executive branch of national government appoints the president and one director. Another three directors are proposed by the Bicameral Commission for the Promotion and Monitoring of Audiovisual Communication and selected by the largest three parliamentary minorities. The Federal Council of Audiovisual Communication proposes the final two directors, one of whom must be an academic with relevant expertise. Board members serve four-year terms, which can be renewed once.

According to the decree, the board organises, directs, and administers RTA. This includes appointing and dismissing personnel and preparing action plans and annual budgets that are presented to the executive of the national government. RTA is overseen by the Supervisory Committee which is appointed by an annual assembly.

Rosario Lufrano has been Executive Director of RTA since January 2020. She had been the head of Televisión Pública from 2006 until 2008. The current Executive Director of Televisión Pública, since April 2021, is Claudio Martínez. Alejandro Pont Lezica has been the director of Radio Nacional since 2019.

A 2015 decree established the National Communications Entity (ENACOM), which acts as RTA’s broadcasting regulator. The head of the regulator is Claudio Ambrosini. ENACOM’s guidelines include ensuring digital inclusion and promoting transparency within media management. However, it has been suggested that the government exerts political influence on ENACOM, as four of the regulator’s seven board members are appointed by the executive branch of the national government.

RTA is primarily funded from the national budget. The National Congress approves the funds to be allocated to RTA, after this has been determined by the executive branch of government. RTA received 48.7 million pesos (approximately £360,000) from the state budget in the first quarter of 2021.

According to the Audio-visual Communications Law, the remainder of RTA’s funding is derived from a tax on holders of audio-visual communication services, the commercialisation of audio-visual content production, sponsorship, advertising, legacies, donations, and events.

RTA’s broadcast area covers the whole of Argentina. However, nationally, only 10% of Argentines use the public broadcasters’ online news weekly and just 35% trust TV Publica as a source of news. Although overall trust in news media in Argentina is only one percent higher, Reuters Institute’s latest Digital News Report concludes that RTA’s public broadcasting “plays a minor role and does not serve as a trusted source”. Meanwhile, those who dominate include four private conglomerates who, according to the Media Ownership Monitor, “combine 46.25% of the national audience”.

Internationally, Radio Nacional’s radio station, RAE Argentina Al Mundo, broadcasts online and via shortwave in 8 languages. RTA has also signed a number of cooperative agreements with broadcasters in other countries.

Some concerns exist regarding the politicisation and transparency of RTA, since a financial scandal and allegations of political bias led to a series of resignations within RTA and at the head of Televisión Pública in 2021. In May, the president of RTA also strongly criticised the opposition party and the government has been accused of blocking the approval of recent appointments to RTA for political reasons.

RTA is making efforts to be more diverse and accessible. Recently, RTA created a Directorate of Gender and Diversity and in July 2021, RTA’s president, Rosario Lufrano, expressed RTA’s commitment to the inclusion of indigenous languages to make sure indigenous voices are heard. Gender equity and trans-representation quotas will also be introduced to public broadcasting, having been approved by parliament in June 2021.

Read more: Argentina: new law set to enhance public media gender equity

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