Article February 11, 2002 Issue

Argentina—the press, the pot-banging, the prayers

Pedro Scarano

Last December political and economic difficulties unleashed public demonstrations of discontent in Argentina. The people took to the streets, banging on railings and pots and pans, demanding solutions. The crisis was aggravated by the resignation of top political leaders. Pedro Scarano, a journalist from Buenos Aires, Argentina, gives us his insights about keeping up expectations for solutions.

Deep down, I think all Argentines knew this kind of situation would come up one day. This is a very divided country. People are susceptible to the influence of what appears on television, in that the information they receive immediately becomes the general view.

The media are very powerful in shaping opinion. In the majority of cases, the Argentine media are run by large corporations. And although they are essentially journalistic, they are supposed to make a profit. So the citizen's thought is manipulated. This has led to mistakes for which we're now paying very dearly. For example, in the case of ex-President de la RÚa, negative press reached such a level that it predisposed the general public to regard whatever he might have to say as unimportant.

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