ARGENTINA-MEDIA: Journalists Under Seige

By Marcela Valente Reprint | | Print |

Marcela Valente

Buenos Aires, Jul 24 1997 (IPS) - Argentine journalists enjoy extraordinary popularity and trust among their fellow citizens but such privilege comes with a price: threats, law suits and physical attacks – often fatal – have become an almost daily occurrence.

There have been 800 attacks on journalists in the past eight years and six months ago, Jose Luis Cabezas, a photographer for the weekly, “Noticias”, was killed.

Daniel Das Neves, secretary of the Argentine Journalists Guild says that “journalists are attacked because they report on sensitive topics such as unemployment or corruption and they expose how criminal activity goes unpunished.”

The nation has responded by giving journalists an approval rating of 54 percent to make them the most trusted members of Argentine society, according to a poll conducted by sociologist Graciela Romer. In 1993 the figure was 50 percent.

The Church and the nation’s public schools have credibility rankings almost as high as journalists, but other sectors trail far behind. Military officials have an approval rating of 16 per cent; legislators 13 percent; judges 10 per cent, while politicians and members of the police force each register seven percent.

The credibility invested in journalists rests to a large extent on the lack of faith in the Argentine judiciary, beginning with the Supreme Court which President Carlos menem packed with his own appointees in order to achieve a majority for government policies.

Journalist Suzanne Bilello, director of Freedom Forum’s Latin American Center in Buenos Aires, says that “people are looking to journalists to compensate for the failures of governmental agencies”.

Gabriel Michi, who used to work alongside Jose Luis Cabezas at Noticias, says: “We journalists have been transformed into very powerful social referees. For most Argentines, we occupy the role that should be occupied by the nation’s judiciary”.

Argentine writer, Ernesto Sabato adds that “it is not that the press seeks to replace the justice department. It’s just that journalists take action while judges and prosecutors sit idly by”.

Since Menem’s second term began in 1995, investigative journalism has triggered the resignation of three cabinet officials. The Minister of Justice resigned after accusations of being a Nazi militant. Then, his successor resigned as a suspected accomplice in the murder of Cabezas, and finally the Defense Minister quit in the midst of a scandal relating to the illegal sale of arms to Ecuador. This final “story” earned its author the King of Spain Prize for the best Spanish language investigative reportage of 1996.

As examples of the intimate relationship that has developed between the press and the public, Hector D’Amico, director of Noticias, notes that when witnesses reported the Cabezas’ murder (and his subsequent immolation), they went to Noticias’ corporate headquarters and not to the police or justice department.

In another poll, the Argentine magazine “El Parlamentario” asked “who are the worst enemies of criminals in Argentina?” Two- thirds of respondants pointed to Argentine journalists.

Das Neves says that public confidence in the ability of journalists to investigate organized crime is the chief factor responsible for transforming reporters into targets for threats, intimidation and murder. The virtual absence of official investigation into the activitites of mafia-style activity confirms the public belief that the press is the nation’s foremost defense against organized crime.

In the past two months Magdalena Ruiz Guinazu, Argentina’s most popular radio commentator (and the star of a TV show) has been the target of aggression which began when a government intelligence agent made defamatory remarks about Guinazu’s past. She immediately filed a legal suit for libel.

Soon, Guinazu was receiving telephone threats by way of Noticias’ corporate offices: “Tell Magdalena she’s next.” Despite the publicity given to these threats, a bullet was fired into her apartment door and later city walls plastered with posters featuring Guinazu’s face accompanied by allegations that she had supported the military dictatorship from 1976-1983.

Das Neves admits “we do not know who’s responsible for these activities, but it’s increasingly clear that it is not a single individual. It is clearly a structured organization enjoying money and the promise of impunity from people in high places”.

Although the Interior Ministry says it sympathizes with the victims of ongoing aggression – and although it promises to protect and investigate, not one case involving journalists has been solved.

Ariel Garbarz, a journalist who specializes in computer science, offered a communications program to government officials that would enable them to detect the source of threatening calls. Garbarz himself was then threatened with death.

Journalists contend that the state is responsible for creating an environment that fosters these attacks. Not only have Menem and his family taken Noticias to court on nine separate occasions, the president also has accused journalists of being, “delinquents”, “terrorists” and “lost souls”.

In one of the cases Menem brought to court, the judge ruled on behalf of the defendant, ordering Menem to pay trial costs. At issue was columnist Horacio Verbitsky’s reference to an interview with a union activist in which Menem was accused of “crying like a faggot” during his imprisonment under Argentina’s dictatorship.

Germany’s high-profile Konrad Adenauer Foundation has commended Verbitsky as one of Argentina’s four “most admired” journalists and his book “Robo para la corona” (“Theft on Behalf of the Crown”) launched a whole wave of investigative reporting. To date, “Robo” has sold 250,000 copies.

As for President Menem, he dismisses Verbitsky’s journalistic abilities. Asked to comment on the writer at a recent press conference, Menem said, “He’s a terrorist who delights in passing personal judgement on honest, decent people.”