COMMUNITY MEDIA - THE LONG MARCH

The May 2010 issue of "Telematics and Informatics. An interdisciplinary journal on the social impacts of new technologies"
is now available and presents a special issue on COMMUNITY MEDIA - THE LONG MARCH.

The new generation of media technologies and the success of the so-called 'Web 2.0' platforms has put at the centre of academic and industry discussions the participatory potential of internet-based media. 'Old' participatory platforms, alternative and community using traditional broadcasting or print outlets, though, have a long history of close involvement of their audiences in practices that have put communities' communicative needs at the centre of their everyday work and fought for the democratization of media systems. Despite their financial and organisational weaknesses as individual stations or projects, community media are being increasingly recognised as the third and distinct sector of broadcasting by recent policy and regulatory developments in Europe and across the globe. The contributions presented in this issue present the opportunities and challenges that are characterising the sector at this time, as the switchover to digital broadcasting platforms, and the need of constant presence at the European Union and Council of Europe levels to make sure that community media are considered with equal dignity among other broadcasters in media policy debates.

Practice based accounts also show the contribution of community media to intercultural dialogue, an impressive range of interactions with civil society organisations present in their communities, and the potential of giving voice to local and diasporic communities through innovative combinations of FM and web-based broadcasting. Finally, this special issue also shows evidence of the important role that civil society plays in the production of situated knowledge along, and in collaboration with, ongoing academic research in this area of study.

Guest Editors: Nico Carpentier & Salvatore Scifo Contributors: K. Jakubowicz, H. Peissl, O Tremetzberger, N. Jimenez,
S. Scifo, M. Sandoval, C. Fuchs, L. Hallett, A. Hintz, M. Santana, N. Carpentier, S. Tenner, A. Borger, N. Bellardi, T. Kupfer, F. Diasio and S. Milan

Online access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/07365853

Abstract of Introductory Chapter

The new generation of media technologies and the success of the so-called ‘Web 2.0’ platforms has put at the centre of academic and industry discussions the participatory potential of internet-based media. ‘Old’ participatory platforms, alternative and community using traditional broadcasting or print outlets, though, have a long history of close involvement of their audiences in practices that have put communities’ communicative needs at the centre of their everyday work and fought for the democratization of media systems. Despite their financial and organisational weaknesses as individual stations or projects, community media are being increasingly recognised as the third and distinct sector of broadcasting by recent policy and regulatory developments in Europe and across the globe. The contributions present in this issue present the opportunities and challenges that are characterising the sector at this time, as the switchover to digital broadcasting platforms, and the need of constant presence at the European Union and Council of Europe levels to make sure that community media are considered with equal dignity among other broadcasters in media policy debates. Practice-based accounts also show the contribution of community media to intercultural dialogue, an impressive range of interactions with civil society organisations present in their communities, and the potential of giving voice to local and diasporic communities through innovative combinations of FM and web-based broadcasting. Finally, this special issue also shows evidence of the important role that civil society plays in the production of situated knowledge along, and in collaboration with, ongoing academic research in this area of study.

More information on Telematics and Informatics available at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/07365853

Part One: Interview with Lina Fruzzetti

Painting and singing stories told in scrolls (patas in Bengali) goes back to ancient times in India. For generations hereditary painter-singers (Patuas or Chitrakars) have been practicing their craft in the Midnapur district of West Bengal. In the village of Naya, 3 hours from Calcutta, many Chitrakar women have recently taken up the Patua craft.

Patuas are Muslims, and they tell the stories of Muslim saints (pirs and fakirs) as well as Hindu Gods and Goddesses, and offer devotion to saints at Muslim shrines. In the past they used to wander from village to village, receiving rice, vegetables and coins for their recital. They would unroll a scroll, a frame at a time, and sing their own compositions. But competition from other media eroded this way of life and nowadays the Patuas are trying to adapt to changing conditions.
A website about Naya and the Patuas is at http://learningobjects.wesleyan.edu/naya/intro.html
The website contains translated texts of the songs that are performed with the scrolls. This is the song about HIV/AIDS
Artist: Swarna Chitrakar
Listen, everyone, pay attention. I would like to talk about HIV AIDS
HIV came from the west & has infected hundreds in India.It is not an infectious disease. It spreads from 4 things:
Using the same syringe for addiction, using the same syringe for injection; from pregnant HIV carrier women. Or having unprotected sex with ‘infected’ women

In case these 4 things are taken care of, HIV will not occur. That is why I request the Doctors; the syringes for injection should be changed.
In case of blood transfusion, the blood has to be checked first.
If a pregnant mother carries a baby, it can be born infected.
I appeal to all Indians to use Nirodh condoms.
If anybody has AIDS, don’t keep it secret. Get admitted to the district hospital. You can test your blood in confidence paying Rs 10 in VCTC centers.

Lina Fruzzetti, a professor of anthropology at Brown University, has worked with the women of Naya. This is an interview made in her office in Providence, RI, in November 2009.
Interview Part Two Lina Fruzzetti Interview Part Three Lina Fruzzetti's page at Brown University:Within social anthropology, my specialty is in the relationship between kinship, marriage, and rituals and the meaning of the construction of gender in India. I have done extensive work on caste and the life cycle rites of Hindus; now I am addressing the recent structural changes to the institution of marriage and what constitutes the person. My research on nationalism and post colonial studies has taken me to a more comparative approach addressing the feminist movement, and the problems and politics of identity and citizenship within Islam and Hinduism. In addition to the primary research work in India, I also focus on East and North Africa communities.

My interest in visual anthropology took me beyond using films to teach. I co-directed four documentary films on varied themes and topics about the communities with which I work.

Proposal for Community TV in Canada

Cathy Edwards speaking about community TV in Israel.
CACTUS Offers New Cost-Effective Model for Maintaining and Increasing Local OTA Service

Ottawa (24 November 2009) In its submission to the CRTC hearing on November 25, The Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS) will propose a novel and cost-effective way to maintain, support and increase local programming content.

"As one of the three elements protected by the Broadcasting Act, community broadcasting must be community-controlled," says Cathy Edwards, spokesperson for CACTUS. "While Canada’s community radio stations offer intensely local content, our community television sector’s dependence on the cable industry has resulted in studio closures, reduced community access, and attempts to commercialize community channels to compete for advertising with local TV stations."

To give Canadian communities a true community alternative, CACTUS will be asking the CRTC to liberate the money earmarked for community access to an independent production fund directed at volunteer community TV boards. They would offer free over-the-air community TV, free training to community participants and free access on all platforms including new media. "We see community TV much like a public library. It should be the communications hub and active voice of Canadians in their cities and towns," said Edwards.

CACTUS believes that the coming analog-digital transition offers community TV the chance to develop a new business model, and to help remote private and public signals such as CTV and the CBC, remain available over the air to all communities, regardless of their size.

CACTUS is encouraging Canadians to express their views and support the community sector, by commenting on the CRTC’s consultation notice on community TV (Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2009-661). Canadians can write to the CRTC (CRTC, Ottawa, ON K1A 0N2) or file online at http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2009/2009-661.htm. The CRTC’s dead-line for comments on this policy is February 1, 2010.

Contact: Catherine Edwards, (819) 772-2862

Digital Oral History from Durban

DURBAN SINGS is a regional audio media and oral history project with a story, an open platform for contributions and re-mixes from other listeners, and a trajectory of joining hemispheres via audio correspondence between listeners: building on a listening bridge between ‘grass-roots’ organisation of community, artists and activist groups of the Southern and Northern hemispheres.

“Its oral history aspect is about reclaiming the re-membering of our condition. (us = Azanians) and sharing this with global audience: the attempt in advancing an African theory of history.” (Motho)

Throughout history it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most, that has made it possible for evil to triumph Haile Selassie (His Imperial Majesty, 1892)

We tend to privilege experience itself, as if black life is lived experience outside of representation. . . . Instead, it is only through the way in which we represent and imagine ourselves that we come to know how we are constituted and who we are.” Stuart Hall. (“What Is This ‘Black’” 30)

In the telling and retelling of their stories/ They create communities of memory/ History, despite it’s wrenching pain, Cannot be unlived, and if faced /With courage, need not be lived again.
(Maya Angelou)

Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy

"The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy is a group of 17 media, policy and community leaders. Its purpose is to assess the information needs of communities, and recommend measures to help Americans better meet those needs. http://report.knightcomm.org/

"The Knight Commission sees new thinking about news and information as a necessary step to sustaining democracy in the digital age. It thus follows in the footsteps of the 1940s Hutchins Commission and the Kerner and Carnegie Commissions of the 1960s.

"But in the digital age the stakes are even higher. Technological, economic and behavioral changes are dramatically altering how Americans communicate. Communications systems no longer run along the lines of local communities, and the gap in access to digital tools and skills is wide and troubling.

"The Commission seeks to start a national discussion – leading to real action. Its aims are to maximize the availability and flow of credible local information; to enhance access and capacity to use the new tools of knowledge and exchange; and to encourage people to engage with information and each other within their geographic communities."

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The Knight Foundation has been criticized for its connection with U.S. national security agencies.
This from http://www.Swans.com:
"The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation (also known as the Knight Foundation), is a major supporter of seemingly "independent" media projects, and was created in 1940 with monies generated from the Akron Beacon Journal. Since 2005, the president and CEO of the foundation has been Alberto Ibarguen, the former publisher of The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald. Ibarguen maintains impressive democracy-manipulating credentials, as he is a US member of the imperialist Inter-American Dialogue, board member of the CIA-linked Council on Foreign Relations, and has held high-level appointments within a number of media-manipulating groups like the Freedom Forum's Newseum, and the Inter American Press Association. Ibarguen, however, is a board member of the newly formed and ostensibly progressive investigative journalism project, Pro Publica -- for a critique of this organization's work see "Investigating the Investigators: A Critical Look at Pro Publica."

The Knight Foundation supports a number of media projects, one of which is the Internews Network. This is a significant show of support as the Internews Network is a large media agency that has a long history of collaboration with the US government and the National Endowment for Democracy. Created in 1982, Internews, like CIMA, promotes a special brand of independent media; that is, media that is independent -- or free -- of any questioning of the hegemonic US media.(4) In 2005, the president of Internews, David Hoffman, co-wrote an article (with conservative commentator Helle Dale) in which he observed that his network played a crucial role in the "war of ideas," a war that he believes should rely upon the "two pillars of American democracy -- free enterprise and free media."

This commentary is part of an article by Michael Barker entitled: "Global Media Managers"

(Swans - March 9, 2009) On January 13, 2009, the Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA), a recently formed international media manipulator, released a report titled, "Soft Censorship: How Governments Around the Globe Use Money to Manipulate the Media." The report documents the manner in which various governments manipulate media systems within their own countries (e.g., the Ukraine and Chile). Significantly the report fails to identify the US government's extensive efforts to manipulate media systems in those same countries or the conduct of CIMA itself. When it is revealed that CIMA is a project of the US government's CIA-inspired National Endowment for Democracy (NED) this failure is contextualised. For example, by providing strategic support to local media projects the NED played a key role in facilitating Ukraine's Orange Revolution (in 2005), and in catalysing the ouster of Chile's resident dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1987. (1)

GRAFITEROS Y EL GUERNIKA DE PICASSO

Low Power FM Support in US Congress

Philadelphia Finally Gets Public Access !

http://phillycam.org/
The mission of the PhillyCAM (Philadelphia Community Access Media) is to provide Philadelphia residents and organizations with the opportunity to communicate with each other through the creation and distribution of non-commercial media. PhillyCAM provides residents and community organizations access to media-making tools and training and opportunities for interaction between diverse communities.The purpose and intent of the PhillyCAM is to operate a vibrant community media center in Philadelphia which is accessible and welcoming to all residents and provides a valuable means for people to gain access to and training in the use of new digital media technologies, including computers, Internet, radio, video, and television, that enable people to address the diverse social and cultural needs of their communities. All Philadelphians, not just the influential, will have the opportunity to make and watch programs about themselves, their lives, and interests, as well as utilize other new technologies.

What’s Public Access?
Public access is a system on cable television, which provides people with access to equipment and training to make and broadcast their own non-commercial programs, publicize their activities or get their message out without having to buy airtime.Godfather of Access, George Stoney and Gretjen Clausing, Director of Philly's new access center.

The public receives access to these facilities as compensation from the cable companies that are given the right to do business within a given municipality, including the use of public rights of way (sidewalks, telephone poles, etc.). This compensation is in the form of franchise fees that are paid to the City and an agreement to provide facilities and equipment and channel capacity for public access.

Public access cable is not the same as public broadcasting. Public or community access programming and content production is open to everyone in the community on a typically first come first served basis. Public access serves as an “electronic park” where people from all different types of communities have the opportunity to share their views and information on just about anything—arts and culture, sports, cooking, religion, education, local issues, national news, health concerns—the list is only limited by the people’s imagination

Rappers Crossing Borders

Ora Wise of the Palestine Education Project, Ras K'Dee of SNAG Magazine, and hip-hop activists Invincible of Detroit and the Narcicyst speak about their experiences organizing across borders, creating solidarity between communities of struggle, and being part of a new generation of activists forming their own connections.
From Grit TV, Laura Flanders' daily program on Free Speech TV.

Graffiti History: Style Wars Part Four

STYLE WARS 4 OF 4
by Top-Notch112

Local Community Radio Act Barrels Ahead in U.S. Congress

This video is a statement from one of the Bill's sponsors made on October 8, 2009.
October 15, 2009: The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has unanimously approved the Local Radio Freedom Act, which would potentially open the door for hundreds of new low-power FMs by doing away with third-adjacent channel protection for full-power FMs. The bill would also require the FCC to ensure that licenses are available to LPFMs as well as translators, based on the "needs of the community," and would end the ban on former pirate operators obtaining LPFM licenses.
The bill was approved last week by the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet in a 15-1 vote. The next step is a vote in the full House. A similar bill is pending in the Senate and is now awaiting action by the Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee.

Last week, we were thrilled when the Local Community Radio Act of 2009 (H.R. 1147) passed out of the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet by voice vote.

Tomorrow, community radio advocates may have more to celebrate. The full House Energy and Commerce Committee will vote on the Local Community Radio Act on Thursday, October 15 at 10 a.m.

After years of fighting to expand people’s access to the airwaves, community radio advocates are finally seeing the fruits of our labor. This is the farthest the bill has come since it was first introduced in 2005, bringing hundreds of communities around the country one huge step closer to running their own radio stations.

The Energy and Commerce Committee is chaired by longtime LPFM supporter Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA). After the Committee markup, we expect the Local Community Radio Act to move swiftly toward a full House vote.

Community radio needs your support more than ever. Please call your representative today to say it’s time to pass the Local Community Act! http://www.freepress.net/lpfm/cosponsors

Halimah Marcus Prometheus Radio Project Development and Communications Assistant
Phone: 215-727-9620 x 510 Email: halimah@prometheusradio.org www.prometheusradio.org

Amarc Statement re: Argentine Law

COMUNICADO DE PRENSA 13 de Octubre de 2009
Comunicado de AMARC-ALC sobre la aprobación de la Ley de Servicios de Comunicación Audiovisual en Argentina

La Asociación Mundial de Radios Comunitarias, América Latina y Caribe (AMARC ALC) celebra la aprobación de la Ley de Servicios de Comunicación Audiovisual en Argentina y destaca disposiciones que garantizan la diversidad y el pluralismo en los servicios de comunicación audiovisual.

La aprobación de la nueva Ley de Servicios de Comunicación Audiovisual, por una amplia mayoría de 44 a 24 votos en el Senado argentino, convierte a este país en una de las mejores referencias en materia de marcos regulatorios para limitar la concentración de medios y promover y garantizar la diversidad y pluralismo. La nueva ley reemplaza a la de la dictadura militar impuesta en el año 1980.

La ley tiene como finalidad regular los servicios de comunicación audiovisual (incluidos la radio y la TV abierta), y se presenta como una norma comentada que incorpora legislación comparada y las recomendaciones del Sistema Interamericano de Derechos Humanos.

AMARC ALC destaca que los fundamentos y objetivos principales de la nueva norma sean la promoción de la diversidad y el pluralismo, así como la desconcentración y fomento de la competencia, tal como recomiendan los organismos internacionales de defensa y promoción de la libertad de expresión.

Uno de los aspectos sobresalientes es el establecimiento de diversas y efectivas medidas para limitar e impedir la concentración indebida de medios. Entre ellas, los topes a la cantidad de licencias que puede tener una misma persona o empresa (a nivel nacional y en una misma área de cobertura) y los límites a la propiedad cruzada de medios, en atención con las mejores prácticas internacionales.

Con el objetivo de promover la producción de una diversidad de contenidos nacionales y locales, la nueva legislación argentina recoge extendidos antecedentes de países europeos y también americanos al incluir exigencias mínimas de producción nacional, local y propia, así como condiciones precisas para la formación de cadenas de emisoras, para limitar la centralización y uniformización de la programación en unos pocos grupos empresariales de la ciudad capital hacia el resto del país.

Otro aspecto a destacar es el reconocimiento expreso de tres sectores: estatal, comercial y sin fines de lucro, garantizando la participación de las entidades privadas sin fines de lucro con una reserva de 33% del espectro radioeléctrico. No establece porcentajes de reserva para los otros dos sectores pero se incluyen procedimientos simplificados para otorgar licencias para los pueblos originarios que se incluyen como personas de derecho público.

Dentro del sector sin fines de lucro, la ley reconoce expresamente a la radio y la televisión comunitaria adoptando la definición propuesta por AMARC y otras organizaciones en los "Principios para un Marco Regulatorio Democrático sobre Radio y Televisión Comunitaria", como "actores privados que tienen una finalidad social y se caracterizan por ser gestionadas por organizaciones sociales de diverso tipo sin fines de lucro. Su característica fundamental es la participación de la comunidad tanto en la propiedad del medio, como en la programación, administración, operación, financiamiento y evaluación. Se trata de medios independientes y no gubernamentales. En ningún caso se la entenderá como un servicio de cobertura geográfica restringida".

AMARC ALC destaca que no se impongan límites previos y arbitrarios a los medios comunitarios, y se les permita el acceso a una diversidad de fuentes de financiamiento, incluida la publicidad comercial y recursos estatales. Como medios independientes que son, se apoya que se limite a un máximo del 30% de su presupuesto el financiamiento que estos medios pueden recibir de fondos públicos pues evita su captura y condicionamiento por parte de los gobiernos.

Asimismo, se considera adecuado que los mecanismos de asignación de frecuencias contemplen y prioricen entre sus criterios la función social, el apoyo a sectores vulnerables y a proyectos de interés social a través de la elaboración de pliegos de bases y condiciones específicos así como la realización de concursos diferenciados para el otorgamiento de licencias del sector sin fines de lucro.

Tan importante como el contenido de la Ley, a nuestro juicio, es el proceso de elaboración y debate de la misma. Es necesario mencionar que el texto toma sus aspectos fundamentales de una iniciativa ciudadana, anterior al actual gobierno, denominada "21 Puntos Básicos por el Derecho a la Comunicación", elaborado por la Coalición por una Radiodifusión Democrática, una alianza de organizaciones e instituciones sociales, sindicales, académicas y profesionales de Argentina.

También, que el proyecto de ley fue debatido en numerosos foros públicos, que hubo un intenso y extenso debate en los medios de comunicación y otros espacios públicos durante meses, y que se presentaron centenares de propuestas de modificación al anteproyecto puesto en discusión en marzo de 2009, muchas de las cuales fueron incluidas en el proyecto presentado en el Congreso. Posteriormente, durante el debate en la Cámara de Diputados se realizaron cambios significativos y positivos, entre otros, a la conformación de la Autoridad de Aplicación.

AMARC Argentina y el Programa de Legislaciones y Derecho a la Comunicación de AMARC ALC participaron activamente en este proceso y se congratulan que se hayan tomado en cuenta varias de las propuestas realizadas.

AMARC ALC hace un llamado a todos los gobiernos de la región de América Latina y Caribe a que tomen como referencia a esta nueva ley recién aprobada en Argentina, que consideramos un muy buen ejemplo en su materia, ya que contribuye a la democratización de nuestras sociedades.
ASOCIACIÓN MUNDIAL DE RADIOS COMUNITARIAS - AMÉRICA LATINA Y CARIBE AMARC ALC María Pía Matta. Presidenta AMARC ALC; Ernesto Lamas. Coordinador Regional AMARC ALC. Gustavo Gómez. Director Programa de Legislaciones y Derecho a la Comunicación AMARC ALC.

ARGENTINA: Opposition, Media Giants to Fight New Law

From IPS By Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Oct 12 (IPS) - While civil society groups celebrated Argentina's new broadcasting law, media giants threatened to fight it with a wave of lawsuits, and opposition lawmakers pledged to revise it after the next Congress convenes in December. In the new legislature, the result of June elections in which President Cristina Fernández's supporters lost their majority, the opposition will try to amend or overturn the law, which was approved by the Senate in a 44-24 vote early Saturday morning, after a nearly 20-hour debate. The president signed it into law later that day.

The bill, which stirred up a major controversy in Argentina, brought the centre-left Fernández into conflict with the leading media groups, as it curbs the concentration of media ownership. A broad network of social organisations, which had long been demanding a new media law to replace the one in effect since the 1976-1983 military dictatorship, loudly applauded the passage of the bill without modifications

United Nations Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Opinion and Expression Frank La Rue said the new law set "an example for other countries" by guaranteeing access to the media by all segments of society. The new law represents "a stride forward in Latin America against the increasing concentration of media ownership," he said.

A number of prominent academics and human rights activists threw their support behind the law. Nobel Peace laureate Adolfo Pérez Esquivel told IPS before the Senate vote that approval of the new law was essential. "We cannot continue to have a dictatorship-era law, created by (dictator Jorge Rafael) Videla," said the activist, who is often critical of the Fernández administration.

"There is resistance because this law affects the interests of big corporations like Grupo Clarín, which waged a major campaign against its passage. But this is not a 'K law'," said Pérez Esquivel. The TN cable news station owned by Grupo Clarín, Argentina's biggest media conglomerate, dubbed the bill the "K law" – for former president Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007), Fernández's predecessor and husband.

"They have tried to depict this bill as a government law, but social organisations have been working for a democratic media law for the past 25 years," said Pérez Esquivel, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1980 for his efforts in the defence of human rights during the de facto military regime.

Senator Ernesto Sanz, leader of the main opposition bloc, the Radical Civic Union (UCR), said that his party backed over 100 of the 166 articles of the law. But no agreement was reached on amendments to the other clauses, and the law was passed without modifications. Grupo Clarín - which owns more than 250 newspapers, radio stations, TV channels and cable stations - and other large media companies fought the new law tooth and nail, and the political opposition echoed their complaints that the new legislation would give Fernández and Kirchner greater influence over the media.

"Kirchner Now Has Law Granting Control over Media" was the front page headline in Clarín, the country's leading newspaper, on Saturday. Senator Sanz said the law is "bad" because it will unleash a flood of lawsuits by companies that will be affected by the change of broadcasting rules, although he added that it could be modified by the new Congress.

Since the return to democracy in 1983, civil society had been demanding new legislation to replace a dictatorship-era law under which a handful of companies have immense power over the media. Hundreds of human rights groups, community radio stations, universities and other civil society bodies joined together in the "Coalition for Democratic Broadcasting" to advocate a new law that would contain 21 specific points guaranteeing the right to communication and information. "This law was our project," the Coalition's coordinator, Néstor Busso, told IPS.

Thousands of members of the Coalition and of political parties, trade unions and student groups gathered outside of Congress Friday to express their support for the new law as the Senate debated, and celebrated when it passed.

The stated aim of the new legislation is to fight the concentration of media ownership by limiting the number of broadcasting licenses in the hands of media giants. It describes communication as a "public service" and will diversify the airwaves by reserving one-third of licenses each for non-profit organisations, state broadcasters and private companies.

In addition, it stipulates that at least 70 percent of radio content and 60 percent of television programming must be produced in Argentina, while requiring that cable TV stations carry channels run by trade unions, universities, indigenous groups and other social organisations.

In the lower house of Congress, the ruling party agreed to 200 modifications of the bill, which brought left-wing parties on board. The draft law made it through the lower house in September with a vote of 146-three, with three abstentions, as the opposition boycotted the vote. In the Senate, the biggest controversy was over allegations that the new law expanded government control over the media, even though executive branch influence was limited thanks to lobbying by leftist parties in the lower house, which increased the participation by not-for-profit organisations.

The new regulatory and licensing body that will replace the federal commission created by the dictatorship and controlled by the government of the day will have seven members: two designated by the executive branch, three elected by Congress and two named by a federal body made up of experts.

The one-year deadline for companies to shed broadcasting licenses over the limit also drew fire, with the opposition arguing that the firms will be forced to sell at unreasonably low prices, and that the licenses could be picked up by government cronies at bargain prices.

In a column published by the Perfil newspaper, Professor Eliseo Verón wrote that "deep-down, the fierce struggle for a new media law is a huge effort on the part of the government to recuperate power, aimed at stripping its enemies of certain media businesses to hand them over to its friends."

Senado argentino aprueba ley que democratiza las comunicaciones

Fernández dio a conocer durante una rueda de prensa que el decreto ya fue publicado en Boletín Oficial. (Foto: Archivo)
La norma de Comunicación Audiovisual que fue aprobada por el Senado argentino y promulgada el sábado, ya fue publicada en el Boletín Oficial por la mandataria Cristina Fernández. Esta norma sustituirá a la ley 26 mil 522 de Radiodifusión de la dictadura.

TeleSUR Sábado, 10 de Octubre de 2009 / 09:15 h

El Senado argentino aprobó este sábado en una votación histórica la Ley de Comunicación Audiovisual que reemplaza la 22.285 de la dictadura militar, donde no se contemplaba la democratización del espectro radioléctrico. El resultado general arrojó 44 votos a favor y 24 en contra.

El proyecto quedó convertido en Ley a las 06H10 locales de este sábado, en un maratónico debate que se extendió por 20 horas, y que inició el viernes a media mañana.

En total el proyecto recibió 44 votos a favor y 24 en contra y, según la estatal agencia de noticia Télam, fue apoyado por el Frente para la Victoria y algunos legisladores de la oposición.

Durante el encuentro varios senadores del oficialismo y la oposición intercambiaron opiniones sobre la norma enviada por el Poder Ejecutivo al Congreso el pasado 27 de agosto.

El senador del oficialismo, Nicolás Fernández, instó al abrir el debate a las 10H30 hora local, a "romper con la dictadura" de las empresas periodísticas y planteó que los medios de comunicación "deben ser el vehículo de la realidad" pero no "constructores de una realidad capciosa".

Entre tanto, la senadora de la Coalición Cívica, María Eugenia Estensoro, cuestionó la norma y dijo que "con esta ley se propone una televisión con fronteras para los medios privados, pero la única que no va a tener fronteras es la voz del gobierno".

La senadora del Frente para la Victoria por Entre Ríos, Blanca Osuna, aseguró que "es una muy buena ley", que apunta a "construir una nueva cultura social" ya que partir de esta iniciativa "se adecuan mecanismos de regulación".

Una vez que sea promulgada, esta Ley regulará los servicios de comunicación audiovisual y garantizará la democracia, los derechos humanos y el pluralismo en los medios en Argentina.

Además esta norma le otorga un 33 por ciento del espectro radioeléctrico al sector comunitario sin fines de lucro, y limita a los monopolios comunicacionales.

La ley ha sido muy resistida por los grupos mediáticos de Argentina, principalmente por el Grupo Clarín, que verá reducido los privilegios monopólicos de los que ha gozado durante la vigencia de la ley de medios aprobada por la dictadura argentina.

También este instrumento legal por completo, ordena que las concesiones para la transmisión en medios audiovisuales sean de 10 años y luego de ese periodo serán revisadas por la nueva Autoridad Federal de Servicios de Comunicación Audiovisual.

El 18 de marzo, la presidenta argentina Cristina Fernández encabezó el acto para presentar la reforma de la Ley de Radiodifusión que fue aprobada por la última dictadura militar en 1980. Posteriormente se efectuaron más de cien foros de debate en toda la nación suramericana donde participaron cerca de 12 mil personas y se escucharon inquietudes y propuestas.

El proyecto de Ley de comunicación audiovisual fue enviado el 27 de agosto por Fernández al Congreso, para reemplazar la ley 22.285. La Cámara de Diputados debatió el proyecto el 17 de septiembre y le dio media sanción con 147 votos favorables, 4 negativos y una abstención.

La Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU) aprueba la protección y promoción del derecho a la libertad de opinión y expresión de la nueva Ley, así lo expreso su relator especial el guatemalteco Frank La Rue.

Estela de Carlotto on the New Media Law in Argentina

From Democracy Now:

Argentina has enacted a media reform bill aimed at undoing dictatorship-era rules that left a handful of companies in control of national broadcasting. The bill allocates two-thirds of the broadcast spectrum to non-commercial stations, limits the number of licenses any one company can hold, and promotes Argentine-made content. The bill was based on a proposal written by a coalition of Argentine community media, human rights groups, unions and progressive academics. President Cristina Fernandez quickly signed it into law following its approval by the Argentine Senate. Estela de Carlotto of the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo was among thousands to celebrate outside Congress.
Estela de Carlotto: “Everyone will have the opportunity to have a form of communication for the dignity of the people. Culturally, it is good; the advancement of freedom of expression is good. Celebrating here, we are all together. The Grandmothers are a part of these people that never ever gave up.”