Low salaries, persecution, media closure and censorship; nothing to celebrate 214 years since the founding of the first Argentine newspaper.
“The Argentine Republic is experiencing one of the worst moments for the exercise of freedom of expression in the last 40 years of democratic life,” expressed the request (request for publication) signed by more than 750 journalists regarding Journalist’s Day. date that commemorates the founding of the country’s first newspaper since its declaration of independence, “La Gazeta de Buenos Ayres”.
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In the document titled “Nothing to Celebrate” and published in various Argentine media, multiple attacks against the freedom of expression of the current administration are denounced, such as “the incessant insults and attacks on journalists by President Javier Milei, a violent repression in coverage of news, restrictions on press workers in access to events of public interest – such as the presidential inauguration without photojournalists or the swearing-in of ministers without credentials.”
It highlights the suffocation to which small and medium-sized media outlets are subjected, whether due to the elimination of the official media or the defunding of programs designed to guarantee the plurality of voices.
And the complaint adds the closure of public media such as the Télam Agency and the consequent termination of employment of hundreds of journalists, as well as National Radio, Public TV and Public Content.
Added to the effects on press freedom denounced by Argentine communicators is the withdrawal of the multi-platform information platform teleSUR from the Open Digital Television grid, as a way of curtailing citizens’ right to information.
All this in the midst of the effects suffered by the entire population. Journalism is one of the lowest paid professions in Argentina and more than half of social communicators are below the poverty line.
“Those of us who work in the press are experiencing a serious impact on freedom of expression and the right to information, which are enshrined in the national Constitution and are the basis of the democracy that we have managed to build in these 40 years,” the request concludes.
Working in an increasingly precarious way
The Buenos Aires Press Union (SiPreBA) published on Thursday a survey carried out on a thousand press workers in which it is indicated that, in April 2024, three out of every four press workers were paid, mainly employment, salaries below the Total Basic Basket established by the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses of Argentina (Indec) and which determines the poverty line, located that month at $828,158 (approximately 670 dollars at the exchange rate accessible to the Majority of the population) .
In nominal terms, according to the latest salary scale published by the union, an applicant who is just beginning his career in journalism receives approximately the equivalent of $200 a month for an eight-hour workday, while an “Editor in Chief” highest position on the scale, earns less than 450,000 pesos base, that is, less than 400 dollars in salary.
The situation does not change much for the thousands of journalists who have several jobs, something that 57 percent of journalists do to add income. According to the survey, if the income from multiple jobs is taken into account, in any case, 61 percent of those who work in jobs related to the press and communication are poor.
The situation is even worse for those who are just starting out in the workforce. 96.5 percent of workers under 30 years of age earn wages below the poverty line.
The work carried out by SiPreBA also indicates that two out of every ten of the people responding (from all branches of activity) received salaries below the indigence line, that is, their income is not enough to cover minimum food expenses. to ensure good health.
At the same time, the introduction of new technologies threatens the stability and continuity of jobs. In different sectors, but mainly in the written press, there are attempts to implement automation of journalistic tasks and, more recently, content creation through artificial intelligence engines.
On this topic, one in four people consulted stated that in the company/s or media where they work, journalistic tasks are automated through the use of software. If we compare the proportion of people who make this statement with respect to 2023, it is found that there was an increase of 6 percent in this item.
21 attacks and counting
Just days into his first six months in office, Milei leads the ranking of attacks on journalists. According to the Freedom of Expression Monitoring of the Argentine Journalism Forum, 30 percent of the 64 attacks registered so far this year were carried out by the current president.
On March 2, said forum, made up of the country’s main media outlets and which respond to the logic of private and concentrated media, indicated that the president’s questions towards the press “only exacerbate the hostility and intolerance against journalism.” ; denounced that “a president referring in a derogatory manner to the press implies a setback in democratic construction and affects freedom of expression, causing intimidation and self-censorship,” warning about “the growth in dismissals that are being recorded in different media throughout the country.” , also due to the critical prevailing economic situation.”
Among Milei’s favorite attacks are accusing those who are critical of his positions of being “overstuffed journalists.” The term refers to the collection of payments in envelopes to determine the approach given to a news story.
This type of pejorative charges are common in the speech about the press issued publicly by the head of state which, in turn, has replicas in society. Of the total number of people who participated in the SiPreBA Comprehensive Survey, 22.5 percent said they had received online and offline threats for being a journalist or working in the press, ranging from grievances and insults, criticism for the medium in which they work, aggressive comments and threats linked to published articles, even physical violence or attacks by repressive forces.
Adding to the situation is the initiation of legal cases against critical journalists. The Minister of Justice of the Nation, Mariano Cúneo Libarona, filed a criminal complaint against journalists Nancy Pazos and Darío Villarruel, accusing them of alleged “instigation to commit crimes,” which provides for a sentence of two to six years in prison. The allegations point to opinions expressed by Pazos and Villarruel, journalists with experience in hegemonic media, regarding the discovery of food retained in State warehouses.
In this regard, the Argentine Journalism Forum (Fopea) states that “the use of criminal jurisdiction against journalists is dangerous because it generates self-censorship not only in the recipients, but also has a generalized deterrent effect. “Other journalists are discouraged from reporting and giving their opinion on controversial topics, much more so when the complainant holds a public responsibility directly linked to public policies linked to the administration of justice in the country.”
For its part, the Center for Legal and Social Studies appeared before human rights bodies and the Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression together with community media organizations, press workers and communication careers, to warn about setbacks in terms of the right to the communication.
The entity denounces a “media blackout” and requests that the Argentine State be requested to guarantee public access to all journalistic material created by public media urgently, to adopt the necessary measures to avoid the approval of regulations that seek to restrict or limit freedom of expression or access to information without perspective of international human rights law; and urgently request the State to adopt the necessary measures to protect the rights to freedom of the press of public media workers.
Meanwhile, this Journalist’s Day, the main union organizations of press workers met in front of the headquarters of the Télam Agency to read the request agreed upon with all sectors as part of another action against attacks on the press and poverty wages.
