The closure of Télam by Milei undermines Argentinians' right to information.
Far-right president Javier Milei has vowed to shut down a 78-year-old public transportation system.
By Luiz Cláudio Ferreira, reporter for Agência Brasil - Argentine President Javier Milei's decision to shut down the public news agency Télam, founded in 1945, is expected to have repercussions on the right to information for the country's population, according to media organizations.
On Friday night (1st), at the opening of the sessions of the National Congress, Javier Miler stated that his government will “close the Télam agency” arguing that it has been “used in recent decades as a Kirchnerist propaganda agency”.
According to the director of the Reporters Without Borders office for Latin America, Brazilian journalist Artur Romeu, the closure of the main news agency (with almost 80 years of history) is "regrettable" and a "disrespect" to Argentine society. "Public communication is an essential aspect of the right to access information, insofar as it strengthens pluralism in the media landscape, which in Argentina is historically marked by a high concentration."
For Romeu, the decision impacts, for example, the presence that different regions have on the national media agenda. He argues that the information disseminated throughout the country and abroad is limited to the capital, Buenos Aires. "Télam and Radio Nacional are the only public media outlets with correspondents in all provinces of the country," he explained.
"STRENGTHENS MISINFORMATION" The president of the National Federation of Brazilian Journalists (Fenaj), Samira de Castro, believes that Milei's decision is "worrying" as it undermines "the right of access to information for the population in that country." According to the Brazilian journalist, the closure of Télam is part of a political strategy to "strengthen disinformation systems in order to promote the narrative of the ultraliberal far-right."
Milei's decision regarding the public and community communication system in Argentina, according to the president of Fenaj, is related to the view that the communication agency is public and not state-owned. "Ultraliberal governments treat public service as a state expense. They want to maintain only the bare minimum, even cutting social areas."
She understands that attacks on public communication also occurred in Brazil during the last governments of Michel Temer and Jair Bolsonaro, for example, with staff reductions, the end of the Board of Trustees of Empresa Brasil de Comunicação (EBC), and the inclusion of the company on the privatization list.
"IT SHOULD GUARANTEE AUTONOMY" According to Artur Romeu of Reporters Without Borders, it is necessary to assess which challenges in public communication should prompt the creation of improvement mechanisms, such as strengthening measures to guarantee editorial autonomy in relation to the Executive Branch and expanding the budget for modernizing equipment.
In Argentina, this Saturday, the Buenos Aires Press Union (SiPreBA) repudiated the announcement of the closure of the Télam National News Agency, citing the "quality and professionalism" of the service provided to Argentinians. "We reaffirm our commitment to defending its social role and its workers," the union stated in a press release.