April 14 marks the 79th anniversary of the creation of Télam public news and advertising agency by Juan Domingo Perón in 1945. This year’s anniversary finds the agency under the government’s takeover and its workers amid an unfaltering struggle against the shutdown threat announced by President Milei on March 1 during his state-of-the-union speech to Congress.
During its nearly eight decades of existence, Télam has achieved well-deserved prestige in the world of journalism, at a national and international scale, as Latin America’s most important news agency and the second most important in the Spanish language. Every month, its news wires are consulted by over 63,000 users and its website is visited by nearly 9 million people.
The national government’s decision to fence off the agency’s headquarters and interrupt its activities puts Argentina’s informative sovereignty at great risk and also endangers the provision of content to Argentinian media that cannot access the news, articles, chronicles, photographs, videos and infographs that Télam provided daily.
During this conflict, that has been going on for a month and a half, the absence of Télam has caused an information blackout that affects the agency’s over 800 subscribers and the users of its free-access digital service, available through its website and social media.
But also, during these almost 45 days, Télam’s workers have fought unfalteringly by means of nonviolent resistance, organizing different actions to make the conflict visible and setting up a camp 24/7 since March 4 at the doors of Télam’s two headquarters, on 531 Bolivar St and 347 Belgrano Ave, in Buenos Aires.
Days before the anniversary, Télam’s workers began a massive campaign to collect signatures from all across Argentina, with the slogan “Defend Télam and the right to information”, supporting a proposed bill that guarantees the agency’s continuity.
The proposed bill called “A Federal Télam, plural and transparent information for state advertising” aims at “providing the National Congress a relevant role, with the creation of a Permanent Bicameral Commission to control Télam and its participation in the election of board members, together with the ones appointed by the National Executive Power”.
The bill also proposes “to establish the agency’s budget and financing through the commercialization of state advertising, donations and all that is specified in the National Budget Act; to guarantee plural, federal and transparent information in the distribution of public advertising; and to protect the real assets and archives due to their historic and cultural value for our country”.
A little bit of history
On April 14, 1945, then Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare, Colonel Juan Domingo Perón promoted the creation of Télam news agency with the aim of disrupting with the information hegemony of foreign news agencies United Press International (UPI) and Associated Press (AP).
In 1955, after the coup d’état perpetrated by the self-proclaimed Liberating Revolution, the agency was put under the control of the Air Force and staff was signifcantly reduced. However, despite the layoffs, Télam continued functioning.
During the last civic-military dictatorship, Télam’s headquarters were moved to 531 Bolivar St, and the agency then responded to the genocidal regime’s agenda of propaganda, which imposed a strict censorship over the agency’s services that even included an international black market of information.
The situation got worse during the Malvinas War, in 1982, when Télam, and public TV station ATC, were the only media authorized to cover the conflict from the islands.
In the 1990s, Carlos Menem’s administration appointed an auditor who tried to sell off the agency and wrest control of official advertising, to no avail.
In 2018, Télam’s website stopped offering news articles translated into English and Portuguese, the agency’s supplements were closed, the National Report publication was shut down and Télam Radio stopped broadcasting.
That downsizing plan resulted in the dismissal of 357 staff and the closing of the correspondents’ offices.
Then, an over 120-day strike began, demanding for the reincorporation of the laid-off staff, which included a peaceful presence of the staff in the offices on Bolivar St. and Belgrano Av.
Télam’s workers brought the conflict to the Labor Courts and, by the end of 2019, a judge ruled in favor of the reincorporation of most laid-off workers.
Between 2019 and 2023, Télam’s operations increased by almost 1,174%, and the regular government budget allocations were reduced by 36,46%.
Along its history, thanks to the presence and commitment of its workers, Télam continues being an essential and irreplaceable actor in Argentina’s news scene. Télam is needed and the Argentine people know it.