Nonprofit television in Argentina after the Audiovisual Law

The Barricada TV case

Abstract

With the passing of Argentina’s Audiovisual Communication Services Law (LSCA) in 2009, the country’s radio and TV media system went through a profound transformation. Among its many features, the law paid special attention to nonprofit community media, to which it reserved a third of the radio spectrum. Media actors who had been persecuted up to 2009 came to (potentially) occupy a central role in the new media landscape that was being built. However, towards the end of 2015, the condition of nonprofit community television differed markedly from what had been outlined in the law. This paper has two objectives. First, it seeks to describe and interpret LSCA’s application between 2009 and 2015 in matters concerning nonprofit community television. Previous investigations have found the law’s application to be lackluster and biased due to the government having other priorities. This situation remained the same in 2015, and was aggravated when the new executive, voted into office that year, modified the LSCA to the point of devaluing it. Second, it hopes to deepen our understanding of the relationship between the state and community media, a subject that has received little attention. In what follows, the paper will address how nonprofit community television in Argentina has made the transition from persecution to legalization, and how this shift has had uncertain results for media actors who have been historically suspicious of the state. Although they have gained legal protection and economic resources through subsidies, they must now abide by a rigorous law as well as greater administrative control and monitoring. We have followed a qualitative methodology, basing our research on the analysis of both previous investigations and documentation from official and journalistic sources. We have also supplemented these materials with in-depth interviews with media actors involved in this process.