Milei will only allow access to the Casa Rosada to journalists who “deserve to be close to the president”

Far-right leader Javier Milei’s war against journalism is now moving to the heart of Argentine power, the Casa Rosada. Presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni has announced that the government is working on a resolution to restrict access to the conference room and only allow “journalists of stature, experience and from highly recognized media outlets” in it. For Adorni, journalists accredited to the Argentine government headquarters should also “feel that it is an honor to be in the Casa Rosada covering what happens to the president.”

“We are going to create an elite press room, of journalists who can demonstrate that they deserve to be close to the president of the nation,” Adorni told the LN+ channel. The presidential spokesman avoided answering why the government withdrew the accreditation of veteran journalist Silvia Mercado, from Radio Jai, who has filed an appeal to have it reinstated. However, he assured that for years the decision to accredit or not a media outlet “has been handled by hand” and the Argentine Executive aspires to change the system and emulate the White House in the search for “excellence.” According to him, they will accredit media outlets according to “their reach, their audience, and also demanding certain characteristics of the journalist, in terms of experience and that they are in a dependent relationship.” “We are going to try to make them proud to be in the conference room,” he reiterated.

Adorni holds an almost daily press conference at the Casa Rosada, which is open to accredited journalists and those who request it for a specific issue, such as foreign correspondents. However, a couple of months ago the government decided to open its doors on Fridays to journalism students as well. This decision contrasts with the desire now expressed to require years of experience in political journalism from professionals who cover government news.

The resolution that the government is working on is not the first attempt to control the press, which has been one of the favorite targets of the Argentine president’s attacks. Less than a month ago, the Executive tried to revive a 1944 law that required having a license granted by the Ministry of Labor to practice the profession. In the face of the scandal, the original tweet was deleted within a few hours and journalistic activity remained unchanged.

“Liars” and “corrupt”

In his first seven months in power, Milei has attacked journalists of all ideologies. “Liars,” “serial slanderers,” “corrupt,” “envelopers,” “prophets of the only truth,” “violent” and “imbeciles” are some of the expressions that the Argentine president has directed at media professionals, sometimes by name and surname. The far-right leader has stated that “probably the place in the world where journalism is most rotten is Argentina.”

In just the first 100 days of his government, the Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA) Freedom of Expression Monitoring revealed that 4 out of 10 attacks on journalists and media outlets originated with the president or his ministers. “When those at the forefront of these attacks are public officials or the president of the nation himself, not only is a climate of intimidation generated. The right to freedom of expression is also threatened, since the harassment, pressure, accusations and accusations generate the effect of censorship and silencing of voices,” denounced Mariela Belski, executive director of Amnesty International Argentina, in a statement on the occasion of Journalist’s Day, on June 7.

The situation has worsened since then. Just three days ago, in the last interview she gave, Milei returned to the charge. “I don’t have a problem with criticism, I have a problem with lying. I would like to know when journalists become so corporate, if they are in favor of the envelope, if they are in favor of lying, of slander, of insult, of defamation, of saying any nonsense or intellectual dishonesty,” she told LN+.

Closure of public media

At the same time, the Argentine president is moving forward with the closure and privatisation of public media, which he considers “a propaganda mechanism”. The state news agency Télam, with 80 years of history behind it, was closed in April. After four months of inactivity, its recently reopened offices now house RTA Noticias, a web portal that provides content to Radio Nacional and Public Television, and the State Advertising Agency. Between the two companies they have around 300 employees, less than half of the 700 workers at Télam, which was the largest state news agency in Latin America. The rest of the staff was laid off with severance pay.

The restructuring of Télam also put an end to the blackout of the websites and social networks of the various public radio and television channels. “All types of transmission and/or broadcasting of content on social networks are suspended until the changes in criteria are established,” announced the public media controller, Diego Chaher, at the end of May. The news blackout lasted more than a month and its reappearance is temporary. On the horizon, if there are no surprises, is its privatization.

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