Clarín editor Julio Blanck: "We waged journalistic war" against Cristina Kirchner.
Speaking to Fernando Rosso of Left Journal, Julio Blanck, assistant political editor at Argentina's largest news daily, Clarín, conceded that Clarín did "bad journalism" but were "good at making war" against the administration of former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.
While largely blaming her administration for the dispute, Blanck stated in the interview that "that's not journalism, not the kind I like to do. I did things that under normal circumstances I would not have done."
This admission was in reference to the conservative media group's frequent use of corruption allegations against Fernández de Kirchner, individuals associated with her, and officials in her populist administration. While the majority were dismissed for lack of merit, Clarín made effective use of a law Kirchner herself signed in 2009 repealing the risk of criminal libel and slander charges for any allegation against public officials if presented in the context "of public interest."
Horacio Verbitsky, the senior political affairs columnist for the left-wing news daily Página/12, stated that as a result of his admission Blanck, 62, was, after 34 years at Clarín, "demoted to a mere columnist with no editorial responsibilities." Both Blanck and Editor-in-Chief Ricardo Kirschbaum denied the assertion.
Fernández de Kirchner, who governed from 2007 to 2015, promoted an Audiovisual Media Law that would have limited the market share of any single media outlet in a given metro area or province. The law, which was supported from organizations such as the UN Freedom of Expression Rapporteur, the IFJ, Reporters Without Borders, and the Carter Center, was passed by Congress in 2009 and after lengthy injunctions favoring the Clarín Group was ratified by the Supreme Court in 2013.
Her right-wing successor, President Mauricio Macri, rescinded the law by decree within days of taking office and has since received almost uniformly positive coverage by Clarín and its cable news division TN.
The Clarín Group is the largest media conglomerate in Argentina, often controlling 50% or more of the media market in a given area; as such it would have had to divest part of its varied holdings had Macri lost. Their favorable coverage of Macri during last year's campaign (referred to as "media bulletproofing"
, and the negative coverage given his opponent (Kirchner ally Daniel Scioli), was instrumental in Macri's narrow, 2.7-point victory last November.
At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.diarioregistrado.com%2Fpolitica%2Feditor-de-clarin-reconoce-que-hicieron--periodismo-de-guerra--contra-cristina_a57bc5e894717bf89217c6875
And: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.infonews.com%2Fnota%2F301248%2Fla-respuesta-de-clarin-a-verbitsky
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about his corrupt, despicable abuse of his position, for political and material gain. He threw ALL principles out the window, and turned what has been expected to be a tool used to bring information to the people, that's why they buy it, pay their money to read it, and misused it as a WEAPON.
Pure perversion, pure evil. The profession is supposed to honor trust the people have put into it, and abide honorably. He used lies to turn the people against the President, and used them, too, as weapons against Cristina Kirchner and her favored candidate.
He admits he's a liar and a crook. He should be penalized severely for his admission, and actually, had there been any honorable journalists around before his admission, they should have made a point of outing this fascist long ago.
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He's no hero. [/center]
