Latin America Roundup: Governments try to leave their mark on public media 

– By Charlotte Pion

Three Latin American countries have new presidents at the helm, with three different implications for public media.  

Between the shutdown of Argentina’s news agency Télam, the financial woes of IRTP in Peru, and the attempts of the Chilean government to build a robust and modern public broadcaster, this year has already been pivotal for public media in the region.  

Argentina: after the closure of Télam, what comes next?  

Since he was elected, President Javier Milei stood by his campaign promises and set about dismantling Argentina’s public institutions, including the public broadcaster Télam.  

The doors of the news agency were shut in March 2024 by Milei’s administration, citing the agency’s difficult economic situation as the reason for its closure.

The sudden closure of Télam was met with significant protest from journalists and press organisations across the country, with many of Télam’s workers camping in front of the agency’s building for months.  

“The emptying of public media is not done to reduce public spending, since the impact is insignificant. The objective is to dismantle federal communication, with a diversity of voices and respectful of human rights,” said journalist Verónica González Bonet when denouncing the attacks on the public media.  

Read more: Fears for future of public media in Argentina after Télam shuttered

The government was accused of repressing press freedom and putting the break of Argentina’s democracy. “Anti-rights governments need the information blackout to be able to sustain themselves” warned human rights specialist Gustavo Díaz Fernández.

On 1 July, the President officially announced the closure of Télam news agency and its rebrand to the State Advertising Agency (APE). This new company, which will be in charge of “the development, production, marketing and distribution of national and/or international advertising material,” has been denounced as being a machine of propaganda.  

The decree putting an end to Télam also included instructions that all of the organisation’s resources – the staff, their news services, and other assets – will be transferred to other public media or third parties.  

According to the Buenos Aires Times, 30% of the 700 employees were laid off while the remaining workers will join the APE.  

Concerning national public media entities TV Pública and Radio Nacional, the government has this week announced a new voluntary retirement plan, as part of a restructuring of the public sector.  

A new law declared a public emergency and granted the Executive Branch extensive powers for state reorganisation. In this scope, the government considered the Radio and Television Argentina (RTA)’s biggest expenses were in employee salaries and deemed a corporate restructure was needed. 

Peru: large expenses at public broadcaster criticised  

The economic situation of the National Institute of Radio and Television of Peru (IRTP) has been widely reported by the Peruvian press. Allegedly, 80% of the yearly budget allocated to IRTP had been spent in four months alone, putting the broadcaster in a critical position.  

This substantial budget hole threatened the operation of the organisation to be limited as of the month of June and the payment of the media’s workers.  In order to allow the programming of IRTP to continue, the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) was asked to allocate a new budget (more than €7 million) for the good operation of IRTP for the remaining of the year. If no solution were to be found to cover the losses, the IRTP’s TV channel TVPeru could stop broadcasting.  

 Part of the explanation for this large-scale spending lay in the new television programmes, which was not originally provided for in the IRTP budget. These new programmes were part of the project of the public broadcaster to decentralise its operations and cover information in the different Indigenous languages of the country.  

Read more: Peru: New administration of IRTP accused of interference

It required large investments in new production equipment and entire technical deployments to other regions.  

However, such heavy investment for just a few new programmes induced some consternation and put more pressure on IRTP’s president, Ninoska Chandia. The head of the broadcaster has been criticised for her close ties with the President of Peru, Dina Boluarte and her family. 

Several reproaches were made to Chandia and this conflict of interest. She has also faced accusations of turning IRTP into a government’s mouthpiece.  

The former director of the Peruvian Press Council, Rodrigo Salaza, expressed his doubts on the editorial independence of IRTP since the arrival of Chandia as CEO, given her close ties with the head of state.   

Additionally, the National Association of Journalists of Peru (ANP) warned about potential political interference at the broadcaster as the Congress approved the inclusion of representatives of the legislative and judiciary branches in IRTP’s Board of Directors. The ANP expressed their concerns about IRTP’s editorial independence and its future legitimacy. 

These events came against a backdrop that is considered hostile to journalists in general. Complaints of numerous attacks on freedom of expression and smear campaigns against certain investigative journalists continue to give cause for concern.