Argentina's Media Workers Just Knocked Back Javier Milei

Argentina’s Media Workers Just Knocked Back Javier Milei

BY
PHINEAS RUECKERT

Argentina’s far-right president, Javier Milei, promised to close press agency Télam and sack its 700 employees. But media workers fought back — and saved the agency from being shuttered.

07.12.2024

When I first met her, Andrea Delfino was smoking a cigarette in front of the shuttered offices of Télam, the state-run press agency in Buenos Aires. It was March 24, the anniversary of Argentina’s military coup in 1976. The entrance to the building was barricaded, but outside there was a hive of activity. Union leaders drank maté as journalists placed calls and conducted interviews from a tent set up by the Buenos Aires Press Union.

Delfino, a journalist at Télam and a spokesperson for the union, had been camping out in front of the shuttered offices for nearly three weeks, since far-right president Javier Milei announced the closure of the press agency and the dismissal of seven hundr4ed employees on March 1. It’s part of a series of attacks on public services by the libertarian leader, who promises to take “the chainsaw” to the Argentine state.

“We made the decision as an assembly of workers to reject the forced leave to which we are being subjected and therefore remain at the doors of the building day and night,” Delfino explained.

Despite the official closure of the agency, Télam journalists — who were laid off with pay and given the option to accept a payout — continued to report, publishing stories on a site run and managed by dissident staff. On March 4, three days after the announcement, workers set up assemblies outside of the two Télam buildings in Buenos Aires, where journalists could organize editorial meetings, producers could edit videos, and union leaders crafted their strategy. All of this was open facing to the public.

. . .

Since Milei took office, the impact on media has been notable. Argentina’s ranking in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index has dropped by twenty-six places. In December, journalist and feminist Luciana Peker left the country after feeling threatened in Argentina. Milei has regularly demonized not only progressive and state-run media but also private outlets like Clarín and La Nación — preferring instead to use social media to broadcast his message, Sarasqueta explained.

More:
https://jacobin.com/2024/07/argentina-media-union-milei-telam/