Media watchdog ADEPA on Friday lamented the “degradation” of public debate in Argentina, blaming it partly on “insults” issued by President Javier Milei against the press and on “episodes of violence” against journalists and news outlets.
The remarks were delivered during ADEPA’s annual assembly in Puerto Madyrn, Chubut Province.
In its report on press freedom, the Argentine Association of Journalistic Entities (ADEPA), which represents around 180 outlets nationwide, highlighted a slogan frequently used by the libertarian leader in recent months: "No odiamos lo suficiente a los periodistas,” or “We don’t hate journalists enough,” sometimes shortened into a hashtag, #NOLSALP.
ADEPA described the phrase as “a dangerous appeal to hatred against journalism which has tended to become normalised” among government supporters. According to the media watchdog, such a message “indirectly enables physical violence.”
The association also recalled “regrettable episodes of violence directed” at reporters and media outlets in recent months, particularly “by security forces during the weekly demonstrations of pensioners” around Congress in Buenos Aires.
Other cases cited included individual assaults on reporters, the hacking of a journalist after publishing an article on the national intelligence services and an act of vandalism in June against television channel TN by opposition “militants” – an incident ADEPA called “almost unprecedented” in the country.
Even so, the body noted a “positive announcement” from Milei, who in a speech in early August declared he would stop insulting rivals to see whether they were “capable of debating ideas.”
He has yet to live up to his claim and used the #NOLSALP on social media on the same day the ADEPA report was published.
The media association also expressed concern over “a judicial attempt to impose prior censorship,” referring to leaked audio recordings attributed to Karina Milei, the President’s sister and chief-of-staff, in a case linked to alleged corruption.
The Executive branch requested and obtained a temporary court order banning the dissemination of that material and any potential new recordings.
While acknowledging that the tapes “may have had an illegal origin,” ADEPA said the ruling constituted “a clear and illegitimate restriction of freedom of expression and of the press, contrary to our Constitution,” adding that it “undermines the right of citizens to be informed and to know matters of public interest.”
– TIMES/AFP
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