Télam news agency’s shutdown is one of the examples of the “deterioration” of press freedom in Javier Milei’s Argentina, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF, by its initials in French). Argentina dropped 26 places to 66th in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index.
In the annual index published today, on occasion of World Press Freedom Day, RSF also mentions a setback of press freedom in other Latin American countries, such as Ecuador (down 30 to 110th), Peru (down 15 to 125th) and Guatemala (down 11 to 138th).
RSF, an international non-profit organization founded in France, criticized Milei’s administration, that “shut down the country’s biggest news agency in a worrisome symbolic act”, in allusion to Télam.
Argentina’s drastic drop in RSF’s index is equivalent to, for instance, the Taliban’s Afghanistan, that also dropped 26 spots in 2024, to the 178th place, ranking third to last, before Syria (179th) and Eritrea (180th).
The report published by RSF emphasized that “while 2024 is the biggest election year in world history, 2023 also saw decisive elections, especially in Latin America, that were won by self-proclaimed predators of press freedom and media plurality, like Javier Milei in Argentina, who shut down the country’s biggest news agency in a worrisome symbolic act”, in allusion to Télam.
The report also underlines that “in almost all of the countries in South America, the press freedom situation is now problematic”– a deterioration due in part to the election of press freedom predators such as Javier Milei and governments’ inability to reduce violence against journalists”.
Several international media replicated the report, such as Le Monde, pointing out that “Milei announced in March his intention to shut down Télam public news agency, which he accused of disseminating “propaganda”” and stating that “the situation is particularly alarming in Argentina, led by one of those “press freedom predators”.
Along the same line, AFP French news agency said: “The situation is particularly alarming in Argentina, after the election of President Javier Milei, whose aggressive stance against journalism attacks pluralism”.
“Facing an important economic crisis, Milei announced in March his intention to shut down Télam public news agency”, France Presse stated.
In turn, EFE news agency also replicated the report and, in conversation with Elena García, one of RSF’s spokespeople, emphasized that “the aggressive way with which Milei addresses certain journalists shows the president’s hostility toward that profession”.
“Press freedom is not a priority for him, given that just a few months after his inauguration, he shut down Télam, an important news agency not only in Argentina but in all Latin America”, they added.
Barrons, an American financial website that belongs to the same groups as The Wall Street Journal, also mentioned Milei’s decision to shut down Télam news agency as “a worrisome symbolic act”.
The 22nd edition of this index specifically highlights the political pressure on journalists. Specialists who contribute to the report observe, in general, “a worrying decline in support and respect for media autonomy and an increase in pressure from the state or other political actors”.
This deterioration takes place “while 2024 is the biggest election year in world historyW, with almost half of the world’s population being affected by at least one election this year.
RSF produces this report based on “a quantitative tally of abuses against journalists and media outlets” on the one hand, and a “qualitative study” on the other. The latter is based on “the responses of hundreds of press freedom experts (journalists, academics, human rights defenders) to more than 100 questions”.
In the same tone, a few days ago, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent non-profit organization based in New York that promotes press freedom and journalists’ rights, urged Milei to “immediately refrain from attacking press freedom, stigmatizing journalists”.
The CPJ’s source was a report by FOPEA in which it is pointed out that four out of 10 attacks to press freedom involved Milei or his ministers. It is also recorded another 17 press freedom attacks between March 19 and April 18 in which Milei was responsible for 53% of the cases. In these occasions, the President used stigmatizing language to describe journalists. With terms such as “corrupt,” “liars,” and “extortioners,” he erodes the press’ credibility and encourages administrative officials not to sit for interviews, the report underlines.