Strengthening the Journalism Industry: ADEPA President’s Address at 61st Anniversary Dinner

2023-12-14 07:17:00

The president of the Association of Argentine Journalistic Entities (ADEPA), Martín Etchevers, highlighted the role of the press in the democratic system and warned regarding the importance of strengthening the journalism industry, to guarantee the economic and editorial independence of the media.

“The Western, democratic and capitalist world today faces the dilemma of economic weakening of journalism and sees it as a clear threat to the full validity of liberal democracy,” said Etchevers, at the dinner for ADEPA’s 61st anniversary.

The president of the Supreme Court also spoke briefly, Horacio Rosatti, who celebrated the “uninterrupted validity of democracy and freedom of expression, in these 40 years, despite the debts of democracy.” And he added: “Freedom of expression was fundamental in these years. It is not enough, but it is necessary.”

The president of the Supreme Court, Horacio Rosatti, at the ADEPA dinner. Photo Marcelo Carroll.

The Minister of the Interior, Guillermo Francosrecalled the trajectory of ADEPA over these 40 years and highlighted Etchevers’ speech, because it expresses “the values ​​of freedom, the republic and democracy.”

And the first vice president of the Senate, the radical Carolina Losadarecalled his origins as a journalist and raised the importance of the task of journalism in the “fight for the truth.”

The Minister of Defense listened to them, Luis Petri; the Secretary of Communication, Belén Stettler; the Minister of Infrastructure, Guillermo Ferraro; and the president of the National Electoral Chamber, Alberto Dalla Viaamong others.

The Minister of the Interior, Guillermo Francos, at the ADEPA dinner. Photo Marcelo Carroll.

The president of ADEPA, Martin Etchevers, thanked the presence of more than 300 media executives, journalists, political leaders, businessmen and officials of the brand new national government. He highlighted the 40 years of the recovery of democracy. And he maintained that “the healthy tension between journalism and power is inherent to the role of the press in democracy.”

In that sense, Etchevers remembered two emblematic figures of journalism: Magdalena Ruiz Guiñazú“who honored the profession and was part of Conadep”, and Jose Luis Cabezas“whose work ended up costing him his life.”

“The free and independent press is, here and throughout the democratic world, the sting, the watchdog, the mosquito that buzzes and bothers. But it is also the one that enables informed and vibrant debatea counterweight to deviations and excesses, a reinsurance once morest any blank check,” said Etchevers.

The first vice president of the Senate, Carolina Losada, at the ADEPA dinner. Photo Marcelo Carroll.

“From UNESCO to the OECD they are concerned regarding disinformation, fake news, political polarization derived from virtual manipulation, foreign interference, online harassment of authoritarian leaders. They are also concerned because these phenomena “They not only threaten electoral systems or democratic coexistence but also the business climate itself.”warned the president of ADEPA.

And he added that “everyone, countries and supranational organizations, agree that strengthen the journalism industrywith objective and universal frameworks, are legitimate and necessary tools to promote the sustainability of a journalistic industry that has seen its sources of income decline at the expense of global technological giants that do not produce content or invest in journalists, but use their work every once more, without providing them with fair compensation for the benefit they obtain.

The president of ADEPA raised the need to have public policies that “encourage the hiring of journalists” and “schemes that require global platforms to meet their obligation to negotiate fair and reasonable payment with the media for their use of their journalistic content”, such as exist in Europe, Australia and Canada.

The president of ADEPA, Martín Etchevers, at the entity’s annual dinner. Photo Marcelo Carroll.

Etchevers also referred to the importance of “publicity of government acts, another principle derived from the Constitution. Something that exists all over the world and also here since the return of democracy.”

This official “relates to the accountability of management, the transparency of contracting, the need for health campaigns or citizen service. A practice that requires being channeled through formal and established business organizations that comply with the law. Official cannot be either a subsidy or a benefit. Much less a reward or a punishment. And if there are cases in which it is, they must be corrected,” in line with the rulings of the Supreme Court of Justice.

“In contexts overflowing with complexity, Adepa raised its voice to denounce abuses, persecutions and stigmatizations in order to vindicate respect for criticism, tolerance for those who think differently, the freedom to inform and give opinions without guardianship of any kind,” said the president of the entity.

And he concluded: “Facing the beginning of a new political cycle in the country, ADEPA renews its unalterable commitment to republican principles and the fullness of democracy, as stated in our founding statute. At the same time, we allow ourselves to urge all the leadership and citizens in general to get even more involved in the defense of those values ​​that gave rise to the Nation and that helped to reconquer the institutionality four decades ago. Now is the time to address the pending accounts.”

Tributes to Victor Bugge and Jose Ignacio Lopez

ADEPA’s annual dinner started with a video with photos of Victor Buggethe presidential photographer who recorded 40 years of democracy in Casa Rosada.

The governor of Cordoba also spoke Martin Llaryora, who maintained that “the media does not only inform. They are also an industry, they generate jobs and preserve our culture. “Democracy is built with everyone, not by silencing voices.”

And the ADEPA dinner closed with a tribute to the journalist José Ignacio Lópezformer spokesperson for Raúl Alfonsín, who – following receiving long applause from those in attendance – highlighted the former president’s management in the consolidation of democracy and “national reconciliation.”

At the previous cocktail, the former Macrista minister and candidate for president of Boca Juniors might be seen, Andres Ibarrachatting with the journalist Alejandro Fantino, regarding the elections next Sunday at the La Ribera club.

The former Media Secretary of Alberto Fernández’s administration also spoke animatedly, Francisco Meritellowith whom he was Minister of Education, Nicolas Trotta; and the Peronist union leader Victor Santa María.

And the president of the Public Bar Association stood out, Ricardo Gil Lavedraalong with his friend Leon Arslanianboth emblematic former federal chamber members of the Trial of the Juntas of the last military dictatorship.

In addition to a large number of journalists and media executives, the governor of the province of Córdoba also attended the ADEPA dinner, Martin Llaryora; the head of the Buenos Aires government, Jorge Macri; the president of the Radical Convention, Gaston Manes; and the deputies Hernan Lombardi (PRO), Karina Banfi (UCR), Silvana Giudici (PRO), Rodrigo de Loredo (UCR), Cristian Ritondo (PRO), Emiliano Yacobitti (UCR), Emilio Monzo (Federal Change) and Miguel Pichetto (Federal Change), among others.

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