International Communication Project - South America

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South America

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South America

Population: 385,742,554

Area: 17,840,000 sq. km

Largest City: Sao Paulo

Country’s:

Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru,

Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela

Territories

Falklands, French Guiana and South Georgia and South Sandwich islands

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South America: Media Overview

Most of the South American nations are flourishing in both political and economic terms.

The economic and financial crisis affecting other regions since 2008 had less impact here

than in other part of world. After decades in which authoritarian military organization

were the norms, and despite some local lapses, democracy has spread and amalgamated

over the past 20 years.

Media in South America have traditionally been consolidated into the hands of a

few wealthy families and large media conglomerates such as Globo in Brazil, Clarin in

Argentina, El Comercio in Peru etc. There is a real risk that media developments will

reproduce this status in many media systems across the region. These large media groups

are in a position to draw the benefits of media developments. Over the last decade and a

half, several countries in the region, including Venezuela, Ecuador, Paraguay, Brazil,

Argentina, Bolivia and Uruguay have moved to democratize media sector. These nations

have redefined the concept of communication from a commodity to a people’s right.

In terms of equipment ownership, Television and radio show high penetration

rates. TV, particularly FTA broadcasting, is the main source of news and entertainment

across the continent. Digital broadcasting remains marginal and readiness for analog

switch over is still low in this region. Internet connectivity is growing steadily across the

region, and also the use of Smartphone’s, and mobile internet connectivity. Newspaper

and Radio is losing its credibility and significance in this continent.

Regarding the impact of the internet on South American Countries, the role of

states has so far been limited partly because the global nature of the internet creates

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additional complexities for new national policy initiatives and regulations, and partly

because the highly commercialized environment of the internet seems fractious to any

possible state interference. Google and Facebook, in particular, top the ranking of most

visited sites in most South American countries. In terms of access to latest digital

technology, Uruguay’s Ceibal Plan is the most significant effort in this continent. Ceibal

plan was started in 2007 with the goal of providing every school child and teacher with a

laptop enabled to connect via Wi-Fi to the internet, and it has already distributed more

than one million laptops.

South American media systems are being transformed by digitization by two

levels. First, most countries in this continent are switching from analog to digital

television. Second, the internet is becoming a central element in communication systems.

Media systems in Ecuador, Venezuela and Paraguay have been shaped by two types of

interests: those of economic groups which aim to maximize their influence and profit, and

thosepolitical groups which use the media for equally self-interested purposes.

Public media in this continent have been weak or non-influential, and can be

considered for the most part as a state media or they are so commercialized. InChile,

public media are indistinguishable from the private media. In recent years, interest has

grown in reconsidering the meaning of public service media and in designing a model of

public media that places them clearly and legally at the service of the general interest and

distinguishes them from state and commercial media. New initiatives are taken in

Guyana, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela to strengthen public service media.

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BRAZIL

Official Country Name: Federative Republic of Brazil

Population: 204,451,000 (5th in World)

Language(S): Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French

Literacy Rate: 90.4%

Area: 8,515,767 sq. km (5th in World)

GDP: $2.247 trillion (per capita - $11281)

Capital City: Brasilia

Largest City: Sao Paulo

President: Dilma Rouseff

Currency: Brazilian Real (R$)

Longest River: Amazon (2nd longest in the world)

Major Biological Diversity: Amazon rain forest

Major Political Parties: Workers Party, Brazilian Social Democracy

Party, Brazilian Democratic Movement Party

Tourism: 2nd best destination in South America

Most Popular Sport: Football

Unemployment: 6.2% of the total work force

Most Widespread Religion: Roman Catholicism (67.4% of population)

Major Exports: Aircraft, automobiles, ethanol, textiles, electrical

equipment, steel, coffee, soybeans and beef.

Corruption Perceptions Index

Ranking:

69th (2012)

Travel And Tourism

Competitiveness Index Ranking:

28th (2015)

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Backdrop

Brazil is South America’s most influential country. The land now called Brazil was under

the Portuguese empire from early 1500. After the end of the colonial period, republican

government came into power. The early republican government was like a military

dictatorship, with army dominating affairs both in Rio de Janeiro and in the states. With

the enactment of amnesty law in 1979, Brazil began its slow return to democracy.

Government and Politics

Brazil has a democratic republic with a presidential system. The president is the head of

state and head of government of the Union and is elected for a4 year term with the

possibility for a reelection in the next term. The current president Dilma Rousseff has

been the first ever woman to be elected as Brazil's president. The five fundamental

principles are sovereignty, dignity of human beings, social values of labour,citizenship

and freedom of enterprise, and political pluralism. Major parties in Brazil are Brazilian

Social Democracy Party, Workers Party, Brazilian Democratic Movement Party

and Democrats. States have their own constitutions.

Economy

Brazil is the only Portuguese speaking nation in the South America, making the language

as an important part of national identity and giving it a national culture distinct from

those of its Spanish speaking neighbours. The core culture of Brazil is derived

from Portuguese culture, because of its strong colonial ties with the Portuguese empire.

Brazil has a mixed economy with abundant natural resources. According to the reports of

IBGE in 2011, the literacy rate of the population was 90.4%, meaning that 13 million

people are still illiterate in the country.

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Media Consumption and Preferences in Brazil

Television sets were the most widespread media content devices in Brazil in 2014 and

were found in 98.3 percent of households. The newspaper is losing its importance in

Brazil. While the proportion of TV and radio sets has remained almost the same over

recent years while PCs were found in 53 percent of households in 2013. Subscriptions to

pay-TV, via cable or satellite, have been growing substantially over the past year. In

November 2011, direct-to-home (DTH) satellite reception was responsible for 55 percent

of subscriptions while the Multipoint Multichannel Distribution System (MMDS) for two

percent and cable reception for 43 percent. There are 672 newspapers in Brazil. Certainly,

this is a small number if we compare it with the total population in Brazil. Newspapers

are mostly preferred by older people.

Title Publisher Circulation

Folha de Sao Paulo Empress Folha da Manha 2,97,650

Super Noticias Sempre Editora S/A 2,96,799

O Globo Infoglobo 2,77,876

O Estado de Sao Paulo O Estado de Sao Paulo S/A 2,35,217

Extra Infoglobo 2,09,556

(Source: Instituto Verificador de Circulacao (IVC), in Newspapers National Association)

PCs represent the main access point to the internet and the number of households

with internet access grew from 13 percent of the population in 2005 to 53 percent in

2015. Recent data from IBOPE Net Ratings reveal that Brazil had 107.9 million internet

users by August 2015, a growth of 8 percent from the previous year. Country’s share of

world internet users is 3.69%. The total combined number of visitors to Brazilian

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newspaper websites rose from 4.2 million in January 2005 to over 20.6 million in the

same month in 2014.

The pay-TV market is heavily concentrated and is dominated by Sky andNET

Brasil. Other players such as GVT and Telefonica - have entered the market offering

triple packages (TV, internet and telephone) and this has not affected market

concentration. According to National Telecommunications Agency (Agencia Nacional de

Telecomunicacoes, Anatel), digital television covers 46.8 percent of the population.

According to Anatel, the total number of pay-TV viewers rose from 200,000 in 2000 to 4

million in 2014.

The internet is the preferred platform for news and entertainment among Brazilian

youth. Audiences for cable television reveal strong presence for sports channels, with

Globosat’s Sport TV remaining constantly at the top of the audience rankings over the

past 5 years. SporTV, ESPN Brasil, and ESPN also rank high. The second most popular

genre was soap operas, at around 16 percent, followed by sports, films, talk shows, and

children’s television. Among internet users, search engines are the main source for news,

with social networks coming a close second.

Major Media Players

Brazil has four major television broadcasters, which have been owned by the same

organizations throughout the years, and which are responsible for the top television

programs: Organizacoes Globo, owned by the Marinho family; Sistema Brasileiro de

Televisao (SBT) of Silvio Santos; Bishop Edir Macedo owns Record and Rede

Bandeirantes is owned by the Saad family. All of them host content on multiple media

platforms, besides TV, including radio, newspapers, magazines and websites.

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Globo is the largest media conglomerate of South America, controlling 340 media

outlets. This conglomerate is the owner of Rede Globo, which is the second largest

commercial television network in the world (According to commercial income) and the

leader in the national TV ratings, due to its internationally famous soap operas, news and

sports programming. It owns Globosat which is the largest provider of pay-TV channels

in Latin America, which has joint ventures with Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures,

Twentieth Century FoxMetro Goldwyn Mayer and NBC Universal. Globo News is the

first 24-hour news channel on Brazilian television, Globosat channel. Globo also owns

many other media enterprises like radio stations, music labels, magazines, newspapers,

book publishers, and movie production companies. Among these, one of the most famous

is CBN (Central Brasileira de Noticias), the country’s biggest radio network, with

affiliates around the country.

Public Service Media

The public service media system comprises:

The government’s TV Brasil and eight regional radio stations, managed by the

Brazilian Communications Company (Empresa Brasileira Comunicaqao, EBC).

Broadcasters, which operate under educational radio or Tv licenses, maintained

by states, municipalities, universities, and private foundations.

Some of the free-use channels that have been established, through legislation, as

must carry channels for subscription TV providers, including channels created by

the legislative houses, the Brazilian supreme court, universities, and NGOs.

Community radio stations.

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The EBC maintains a web platform for its outlets, through which it streams live

content to the public. Live streaming is also provided by the National Congress channels

like TV Camara and TV Senado, TV Cultura and Univesp TV, an educational channel by

TV Cultura and the government of Sao Paulo. TV Cultura is the public service

broadcaster which experiment with simulcasting on digital terrestrial television. Cultura

use its digital channel to simulcast TV Cultura, Univesp TV and Multicultura to viewers

located in the city of Sao Paulo.

Digital Platforms and Social Media Activism

Brazilian internet culture is heavily driven by the consumption of content found through

web portals and use of a variety of social media. Social networks are the most popular

type of UGC in Brazil, with Facebook dominating the market. In August 2014, Brazilians

spent an average of 678 minutes a week on social network. Despite the widespread use of

social media, Brazilian internet culture is heavily dependent on commenting and

spreading whatever published by the major web portals which are controlled by the

traditional media outlets. The most representative web portals are Grupo Folha’s UOL,

Micrsoft’s live.com, Globo’s globo.com, Telefonica’s terra, Ongoing’s iG, Record’s R7,

Abril’s abril.com.br and Grupo Estado’s estadao.com.

Facebook has also become an expressive online platform for organizing public

gatherings. Their goals range from protesting against the State of Sao Paulo moving the

planned construction site of a subway station to asserting the rights to freedom of

expression after a public meeting, which argues for the decriminalization of marijuana,

was met with police action in Sao Paulo.

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(Source: Alexa 2013)

Twitter is used by campaigners in a strategy called mass twittering, which

involves getting hashtags to appear on the trend list, in order to attract press and public

attention regarding certain issues. This mode of action gained attention when Twitter

campaign “Fora Sarney” orOut with Sarney, focused on accusations of corruption

covered by the press during 2009 involving Jose Sarney, one of Brazil’s most well-

known politicians.

Media Freedom and Media Laws

The constitution guarantees a free press and there is a strong debate in the media about

political and social matters. In 2014 the Brazilian government passed the “Marco Civil da

Internet” or Internet Bill of Rights, which protects user privacy, freedom of online

expression and net neutrality in law. The year was also witnessed rising violence against

a journalist’s and many instances of judicial censorship.

1967 Press Code (Lei de Imprensa) ensures freedom of the press in the country.

Third article of this press code prohibits media ownership by foreigners. The subsequent

article goes even further, stating that only Brazilian citizens might be responsible for

managing, editing and producing news shows, including news stories, debates, opinion

Top 5 most visited Websites (March,2013)

Rank Web Category

1 google.com.br Search

2 facebook.com Social network

3 youtube.com Online video streaming

4 uol.com.br Web portal

5 globo.com Web portal

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and commentary. A new Telecommunications Code (Lei Geral das Telecomunicacaes)

was enacted in 1997 to guarantee universal access to telecommunications to Brazilian

citizens. The new code also created a national telecommunications agency (Agencia

Nacional Telecomunicacaes), is now responsible for granting telecommunications

licenses. Article 221 of the Constitution establishes that educational, artistic, cultural and

informative content should be given prior importance in radio and television

programming and content production. Commercial broadcasters are required to schedule

at least five hours a week of educational content, allocate at least 5 percent of their

programming to news content and should never exceed a quota of 25 percent airtime for

advertising.

Analysis of Media Functioning in Brazil

The impact of digitization in Brazil is evident when one looks country’s internet use

rather than the digital broadcasting industry. Even though the digital divide is wide,

Brazil has a huge number of internet users representing the largest internet population in

South America. Television remains as the main platform for news and entertainment

consumption, but there have been a meaningful audience change in the past five years.

The immense influence exerted by Organizacoes Globo over Brazil’s media, culture and

politics must be stressed.

The top news websites in Brazil are controlled by the same groups that controlled

other media houses. There is a relevant content production by bloggers and NGOs who

have their constituencies and followers, but traditional media groups continue to exert

very strong control over how popular opinion is shaped. The phenomenon of massive

social media penetration and the popularity of blogs, Facebook and Twitter in Brazil are a

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force to be reckoned with. It remains to be seen how the traditional media groups and the

Brazilian online population will interact in the future and whether these interactions will

lead to positive change. Some journalists pointed out that working condition in Brazil

have been negatively impacted over the last few decades, since journalists are required to

work extra hours and assume new roles to accommodate the demands that come from

digital news delivery.

Diversity and new opportunities for expression are certainly brought under control

by digitization. Marginalized groups and sensitive issues can now be heard and receive

with proper coverage. The barriers to entry in the online sphere are noticeable when one

compares political campaigning on TV or radio with the advanced ways the internet was

used during the Brazilian elections in 2010. Only a small portion of the population has

access to high bandwidth internet, and TV remains the primary channel through which

Brazilians obtain information and entertainment.

Print media are in extreme crisis with the disappearance of a number of

publications and uncertain experiments with new business models. Newspaper readership

witnessed a remarkable decline in the last few years. Some of the major players are well

positioned in terms of the reach of their online outlets or have converged their operations

into related areas such as Folha de Sao Paulo with ISP UOL. The future of investigative

journalism is still uncertain despite the success of crowd funding experiments by the

independent outlets such as Reporter Brasil and Agencia Publica. Another major problem

in the Brazilian media industry is about the absence of the standardization process for

digital radio, which has been dragging since 2007.

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Despite obvious conflicts of interest and constitutional obstructions, many

members of the National Congress have broadcasting companies or are related to the

owners of these companies. The political misuse of broadcast licensing has been a fixture

of the media landscape for last few years and there is no sign that this is going to change

in the future. Since the Constitution wants two-fifths of the Congress to vote against

license renewals, the system provides de facto automatic renewal. Brazil has become over

reliant on platforms in the online environment. Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon

are responsible for many services related to content distribution, social networking,

hosting and web search, which increasingly shape Brazil’s media consumption. Besides

economic exposure, privacy is also an issue and the bill on data protection that was

conceived by the Ministry of Justice has yet to be sent to Congress for approval. A

national organization called Intercom congregates journalism educators and students in

the country by promoting research and education in the field of journalism and mass

communication.

Privacy and net neutrality are the major topic in the conversation about online

mediated democratic discourse, as well as the filtering and censorship of content and

close observation of online activities. However, there are also issues posed by the new

modes of content consumption that an always connected platform provides such as the

effect of extremely selective content consumption through personalized feeds or content

distribution mediated by algorithm. For Brazilian citizens, the future promises a relatively

a better diverse media ecosystem, but with considerable challenges and uncertainty at

regulatory, economic, and social levels.

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ARGENTINA

Official Country Name: Argentine Republic


Official Language(S): Spanish


Area: 2,780,400 sq km (8th in World)

GDP: $563.138 billion ( per capita -$13,271)

Capital City and Largest City: Buenos Aires

President: Cristina Fernandez Kirchner

Currency: Peso

Major River’s: Negro, Parana, Santa Cruz and Salado

Major Biological Diversity: Northwest Yungas

Tourism: Best destination in South America

Tourist Destinations: Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Iguazu National Park,

Bariloche and Salta.


Most Widespread Religion: Catholic (76.5% of population)

Major Exports: Beverages, Motor Vehicles and Spare parts, Steel,

Aluminum and Leather.

Corruption Perceptions Index

Ranking:

102nd (2012)

Travel And Tourism

Competitiveness Index Ranking:

28th (2015)

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Backdrop

The country has its roots in the Spanish colonization of the region during the

fifteenth century. The declaration and fight for the independence was followed by a civil

war that lasted until the early 1860’s, and the country was reorganized as a federation of

provinces with Buenos Aires as its capital city. Raul Alfonsin won the election in 1983

and was the first democratically elected president following the military government.


Argentina is a representative democracy and the Federal constitutional

republic. The government of Argentina is regulated by a system of checks and

balances are defined by the Constitution of Argentina, the country's supreme legal

document. The federal government is composed of three branches; they are Legislative,

Executive and Judiciary.

Economy

Argentina is a middle emerging economy and is currently one of the world's top

developing nations. Argentina is a member of the G-20 major economies. It is also a

main representative member of the United Nations, Mercosur, World Bank, World Trade

Organization,Community of Latin American Union of South American Nations, and

Caribbean States and the Organization of Ibero-American States. Historically, however,

its economic performance has been very uneven, with high economic growth alternating

with severe recessions, income misdistribution and increasing poverty. Cordoba is

Argentina's major industrial centre, which host metalworking, motor vehicle and auto

parts manufacturers.

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Media Consumption and Preferences in Argentina

Households in Argentina show a wide spectrum in the process of adoption of equipment

enabled for digital media. The actual differences are subject to socioeconomic conditions.

According to the 2014 national census conducted by the National Statistics and Census

Institute, just over 40 million Argentineans reside in some 14 million households, slightly

over 97 percent of which own a TV set.

The main platform used by Argentineans for news, information and entertainment

is television. Television was introduced in 1951. Most households pay to have a choice of

TV channels; only seven cities (outside of Buenos Aires) have more than one terrestrial

reception TV channel. In another 14 provinces there is only one free-to-air channel, and

in various areas (like the province of Catamarca) only pay-TV is accessible because not

even the main state channel reaches the entire population. For that reason, there is only

limited TV terrestrial delivery and it is focused on the large urban centres. The rest of the

country receives the cable TV offer, with multichannel offerings. It is perhaps not

surprising then that Argentina is among the South American countries with the highest

percentage of cable TV subscribers. This distribution platform was introduced in 1963, a

few years after the private terrestrial TV appeared between 1957 and 1961, only in

Buenos Aires. Almost 70 percent of Argentinean households that own a TV set have a

cable subscription. The main cable TV operator is the company Cablevision, owned by

Grupo Clarin, including TN (the country’s top news channel).

By 2014, 1 million households had a computer. Slightly over half of that figure

has internet access, as there are 7.5 million connections, meaning that about 50 percent of

the total number of households is now connected to the internet. However, network

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access growth is concentrated mainly in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area where 75

percent of connections are located, including both broadband and dial-up. One type of

consumption continues to be high in Argentina, and that is radio, on its various support

platforms: portable radio, car radio, internet, CD player, mobile MP3 player, or cell

phones. The country lacks a radio system of national reach, since only the public Radio

Nacional covers only significant portion of the country through 40 stations.

Newspaper Sales, March 2013

Newspaper Monday to Saturday Sunday

Clarin 3,25,626 6,26,764

La Nacion 1,88,660 3,24,600

Diario Popular 1,01,216 1,48,506

La Voz Del Interior 66,876 96,876

Ole 51,256 52,800

Perfil - 50,681

(Source: Circulation Verification Institute)

The history of journalism in Argentina can be traced back to colonial times, with

the creation in 1801 of the first newspaper, Telegrafo Mercantil. At present, Around 180

newspapers are published in Argentina, all are privately owned. Only a few of them have

a national circulation and they consist of publications based in Buenos Aires. The range

of dailies covers a wide political spectrum, though there is strong ownership

concentration and some degree of duality in the position taken towards the national

government. At one end of this duality there is a group of papers that is closer to the

government’s policy (the papers belonging to the Spolski group—Tiempo Argentino, El

Argentino, and Miradas al SurplusPagina 12 and Cronica), and at the other end, a group

of papers whose editorials are strongly critical of all measures taken by the current

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administration (the papers belonging to Grupo Clarin, Clarin and La Razon, the daily La

Nacion, and the weekly Perfil).

News content has a prominent presence on Argentinean television. Canal 13

(owned by Grupo Clarin) airs four news bulletins Monday to Friday. It is the leading

channel in terms of audience rating, and complements the news supply it carries

terrestrially with acable TV station called TodoNoticias (TN). Telefe (the company

owned by Telefonica de Espana) has three newscasts per day. Canal America (owned by

Grupo Vila) has a similar offer, with two daily newscasts of its America Noticias

program, in addition to scheduled newscasts on Saturdays and Sundays.

Major Media Players

In 1989 Grupo Clarin entered the audiovisual market and became the largest media group

in the country and a significant player at regional level. It owns the leading newspaper in

the country in circulation and revenues, and one of the most important TV stations in

Buenos Aires city in audience size. It holds more than 50 percent of the pay TV market,

and controls news agencies, paper pulp mills, and film and TV production companies.

Another prominent group is Telefonica, which has a system of terrestrial TV stations and

mobile telephony in the country, in addition to 60 percent of broadband connections. In

the past, the company also operated radio stations, and had a stake in the cable TV

system, in spite of legal impediments.

The third most important player is Grupo Vila-Manzano, which expanded from

the province of Mendoza in the rest of the country, and has achieved major coverage in

several provinces. It has a 25 percent market share of pay TV subscribers, controls

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several newspapers in provincial capitals, and has radio and TV stations. The creation

and growth over the past five years of Grupo Szpolski-Garfunkel is noteworthy, as it has

several papers, magazines, cable TV signals, and radio stations. The group has very close

ties with the government, and receives substantial support in the form of state advertising.


The public media system comprises the media owned and operated by the state - Canal 7

television, Radio Nacional, and Radiodifusion Argentina al Exterior (RAE). Canal 7

(with the motto, “The Public TV”) is based in Buenos Aires city and broadcasts to the

entire country through 295 repeater stations. It has the largest territorial coverage in

terrestrial reception television, as part of an expansion process started in 2003.

Additionally, it has a presence in 99.5 percent of cable TV networks in the country, and

its programming can be viewed online at www.tvpublica.com.ar.

Radio Nacional comprises 40 radio broadcasters, both AM and FM, and is

accessible online at www.radionacional.com.ar. RAE provides Argentinean broadcasting

abroad. With the new regulatory framework of 2009, a state company called the

Argentinean Radio and Television State Society (Radio y Television Argentina Sociedad

del Estado, RTA) was established, in charge of managing Canal 7, Radio Nacional, and

RAE.The purpose and responsibility of the RTA is to organize the production and

distribution of content to all state media outlets. It must ensure that 60 percent of

thecontent is produced in-house, and 20 percent is independent for each station, it

manages in addition to respecting political, religious, cultural, linguistic, and social

pluralism. The national news agency, Telam, was established in 1945. It provides

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services to some 300 subscribers, including governmental institutions, and national and

international media. It is currently a state company (sociedad del estado) whose

shareholder is the Communication Media Secretariat (Secretaria de Medios

deComunicacion), which is responsible for appointing its board. A large portion of its

contents is available online at www.telam.com.ar.


The top 10 social networking sites in Argentina are among the country’s top 40 most

visited websites. The top 12 websites overall include six social networking websites,

which is indicative of how intensely Argentineans with internet access use social

networks.

Top 5 Social Networks, March 2103

Social Network Monthly Visitors

Facebook 8,100,000

YouTube 7,296,000

Taringa 2,600,000

Wikipedia 2,400,000

Twitter 1,100,000

(Source: International Telecommunication Union, ITU, 2013)

Digital activism in Argentina is primarily based on social media. Facebook,

YouTube, Taringa and Twitter, four of the six top social networks in Argentina, are

forums where civil society has an active involvement, both in broad terms and in the

context of the issue and specific campaigns. Also, the main blogs visited in Argentina

contain examples of civic engagement and activism.

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Media freedom is guaranteed by the constitution. However, US based freedom house of

Argentina says that the poor relationship between the government and the media is an

obstacle to journalism. In Argentina, there is no regulation on the ethical behaviour of

journalism, no self-regulation mechanisms implemented by media owners, in the style of

the British Press Council, and no corporate professional control, such as journalist’s

associations.

In October 2009 the Congress passed the SCA Law governing audiovisual media:

radio, terrestrial TV, cable TV, and satellite TV. The SCA law implies major changes in

terms of ownership, as one of its stated objectives is to promote the deconcentration of

the media market by lowering the threshold on the number of permitted media owned by

the same owner, and to encourage more diversity, both in ownership and contents

Analysis of Media Functioning in Argentina

Media consumption in Argentina is undergoing a process of significant change. However,

the traditional media remain the major sources and have not been replaced in the incipient

process of digital migration. The media offering a more diverse range of options are print

media and radio in the whole country. In this context, television newscasts are losing

audience at a rate of one rating point per year. In turn, cable news programs have grown

in popularity. On the internet, the digital divide remains as a central issue, not only in

theterms of social groups without the economic means and the skills to use the net, but

also in term of the quality of access provided in different parts of the country.

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In my opinion, the discussion on the democratic regulation of the media is a

phenomenon that surpasses the national dimension, and is part of a healthy Latin

American process. For the first time in history, the citizenship, with a more active role in

civil society organizations, has embarked on discussions and initiatives on public

communication policies, outside any implicit agreements between governments and

media owners. Such has been the case of the debate on the SCA Law, with its public

discussions and open forums, which constitute a remarkable event in the history of media

policy in the country. The shift in the relationship between the government and the

corporate media since 2008 has been the main driver for transformation in the

communications sector since 2005. The approval of the SCA Law has its origins in an

attempt to regulate and transform the media sector. In this sense, it is a step towards the

democratization of the media, but is not the most appropriate framework for facilitating

the transition to a better media environment.

The LSCA Law was praised by experts for improving media regulation by

increasing the diversity of ownership, and limiting ownership by existing commercial

media groups. But these provisions have not been properly implemented and the process

of granting new licenses has been slow, and the limitations on existing media groups

have been challenged in court. In particular, it should prepare a technical plan to specify

the current use of the spectrum and launch new tenders for licenses to give non-

commercial organizations access to the frequencies reserved for them by law.

Historically, the state-owned media have suffered from poor ratings and have not

played a major role in the media system. The government and the provincial authorities

should strengthen the public broadcasting media by using the potential of digital

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transition to increase their territorial reach. The government should adopt policies at

national and provincial levels to promote the production of news, entertainment and

cultural content across the country, so as to encourage genre diversity as well as diversity

of political, social, and cultural perspectives, voices and geographical origins.

The overall future of the press is complex and uncertain. Many legal and

economic issues that affect the profession are currently being debated in Congress. Under

the present difficult state of affairs, the role of the Argentine press has, if anything, grown

even more important. Existing policies to promote federal production in film and

television, coordination and strategic coherence should be improved. Such policies

should aim to help producers achieve sustainability. They could include human resources

policies for training of professionals in technology, media management, and content

creation. Such training should be done through a network to allow different training and

production centers to share experiences.

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COLOMBIA

Official Country Name: Republic of Colombia


Language(S): Spanish (official) and English


Area: 1,141,748 sq. km

GDP: $427.139 billion ( per capita - $8,858)

Capital and Largest City: Bogota

President: Juan Manuel Santos

Currency: Peso

Major Rivers: Cauca, Guaviare, Atrato and Magdalena


Major Religion: Christianity

Major Exports: Fuels, Precious stones, Paper, Coffee, Meat,

Sugar, Cereals and Cotton.

26

Backdrop

The Spanish arrived in 1499 and started a period of conquest and colonization, finally

creating the Viceroyalty of New Granada with its capital at Bogota. Independence from

Spain was won in 1819. Republic of Colombia was declared in 1886. Since the 1960s,

Colombia has suffered from an armed conflict which wasintensified in the 1990s, but

then decreased from 2000 onward.


The government of Colombia has a presidential representative democratic republic as

established in the Constitution of 1991. According to the principle of separation of

powers, the government is further divided into three branches - the legislative branch,the

executive branch and the judicial branch. The President of Colombia serves as both head

of state and head of government. He is followed by the Vice President and the Council of

Ministers. The president is elected by popular vote to serve a four year long term.

Economy

Colombia is considered one among the world's 17 mega diverse countries and the most

biodiverse per square kilometer. In Accordance to the International Monetary

Fund estimates, Colombia's GDP (PPP) in 2012 was US$500 billion (28th in the

world and 3rd in South America). The average national unemployment rate in 2014 was

around 9%. Colombia has Free trade Zone (FTZ) like Zona Franca del Pacifico located

in the Valle del Cauca. It is one of the most striking areas for foreign investment in

Colombia.

27

Media Consumption and Preferences in Colombia

The media market is very small for the size of the country and its population. There are

two newspapers with nationwide circulations and one or two regional or local newspapers

per region, three national public TV channels, eight regional public television channels

and two national private TV channels.It also has two main radio networks. Television is

the most popular medium in the country in terms of consumption. TV usage is around 94

percent of the population since 2005. In Accordance to 2013 media survey, users reported

watching an average 2.8 hours of national television and 1 hour of international television

daily. The two private channels - RCN and Caracol are dominant. The next most viewed

channel is a private local channel from Bogota - City TV. Other national public channels

are Senal Colombia and Canal Uno. Other major channels are - Teleantioquia, Canal

Capital, Telecaribe and Telepacifico.

An important change in media consumption during the last five years is the

increase of pay-TV. From 2005 to 2010 it grew from 61.6 percent to 78 percent. Another

consequence of the increase of pay-TV is the appearance of many privately owned cable

television channels. Cable Noticias was launched in November 2007 and NTN24 was

launched in November 2008while Canal El Tiempo was launched in October 2010.

Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) is a new service that is fast gaining in Colombia. It

was launched in 2008 by UNE-EPM Telecommunications. It is a division of Empresas

Publicas de Medellin SA (Medellin Public Enterprise SA, EPM) and it is the largest

telecommunications company of its kind in the country. Its penetration has grown from

65,300 subscribers in 2009 to 1, 20,900 in 2012.

28

After TV, Radio is the second mass media in terms of consumption. Radio usage

had decreased 12 percentages from 76.6 percent to 64.7 percent. Three main radio

networks control most of radio audience in the country. Caracol is the first radio network

created in the country, which leads with almost 40 percent of the audience. Caracol Radio

was a sister network of Caracol Television but it is now owned by the Spanish media

group Prisa. RCN Radio is in the second place, a sister network of RCN Television

Network, with around 30 percent of the audience. The third major radio network is

Olimpica with a little over 10 percent.

Since 2005, the main change in media consumption has been the increase in

internet usage by 34 percentage points, from 14.9 percent in 2005 to 48.9 percent of the

population in 2013, according to the Estudio Generalde Medios (General Media Study,

EGM), a survey which cover 50 cities and towns. But, most people are still oriented

towards traditional media as their main sources of information. Many online sources are

online versions of the traditional media, such as radio stations, television channels

andnewspapers. The most visited Colombian website is eltiempo.com which belongs to

the largest newspaper in the country.

El Tiempo is the most widely read newspaper in the country. It is a traditional

daily founded in 1911. It has played an important role in the political and media history

of the country. The second paper in terms of readership –ADN,is a free newspaper

launched in 2008, by the publisher of El Tiempo, Casa Editorial El Tiempo (CEET). ADN

has regional editions in the four main cities - Bogota, Cali,Medellin and Barranquilla.

ADN follows the template of ADN Spain, since the Spanish media group Planeta became

the majority shareholder of CEET. The next ranked newspaper in number of readers

29

isQ’hubo is sold in 15 cities, Cali - third in the ranking and Medellin at fifth. Both ADN

and Q’hubo are considered popular dailies. They focus on local information and news is

presented next to large pictures and texts are very short. They lack in-depth political

analysis or a strong editorial.

Al Dia Barranquilla, El Espacio,El Colombiano and El Espectadorare other

major newspapers in Colombia. El Espectador is founded in 1887, is Colombia’s oldest

newspaper. TVyNovelas are the most widely read magazine in the country, is a biweekly

gossip magazine owned by Editorial Televisa. In the second place is Soho, a men’s

magazine which is known for its writing by famous journalists and writers. 15 minutos,

TV Guide, Cromos are the other major magazines.

Newspaper Readership rates (2011)

El Tiempo 1,185,000

AND Bogota 775,010

Q’hubo Cali 496,210

Al Dia Barreinquilla 465,100

Q’hubo Medellin 431,200

(Source: General Media Study 2011)

Some regional newspapers such as El Heraldo, El Pais, Vanguardia Liberal,El

Colombiano and El Universal have altered their online editions to differentiate their

content from their printed version. Eltiempo.com is the website of the most read

newspaper in the country. It is not only the most popular news site, but also the most

visited Colombian site. El Tiempo’s print readership for 2010 was 1.18 million people

while the website traffic for April 2012 was around 4.5 million unique visitors. The

CaracolTV.com and CanalRCNmsn.com provide news, information and television

30

programs such as soap operas, contests and reality shows. El Espectador and ElTiempo’s

online versions are completely different from their print editions. El Tiempo recently

launched a new design and its own cable television news channel. The print edition is

now more colorful and has big photos and small articles.


Colombia’s public service media are state supported TV channels and radio stations that

are regulated by the National Agency of Television (Agencia Nacional de Television,

ANTV) and the national broadcaster RTVC. Mission of RTVC is the strengthening of the

nation’s cultural values. The public media sector comprises eight regional television

channels, three national television channels, one international television channel, two

national radio stations and over 150 public interest stations. There are some 650

community radio stations and 40 community TV channels whose owners must pay a

fixed amount of operational license fee to the governemnt. As to public radio, the two

national stations are Radio Nacional de Colombia (Colombian National Radio, RNC) and

Radionica. RNC station has been operating since 1940, around 14 years before the

arrivalof television and has maintained its incredible popularity as an educational and

cultural news station. Radionica aimed at young audiences.

The three national channels which have national coverage are Senal Colombia,

Canal1and Senal Institucional. The eight regional channels are Canal Capital,

Telepacifico, Telecaribe, TeleCafe, Teleantioquia, Canal Tro,Teleislas and Canal 13.

These channels have a limited coverage. There is an international public channel,

Region Colombia Institucional (RCI) which is intended for Colombian expatriates around

31

the world. All public television channels have been controlled by the National Authority

for Television (Autoridad Nacional de Television). It is a state organ with administrative

autonomy and independence.


Social networks have become very popular in Colombia. The top 10 social networks list

aggregate around 20 million unique visitors every month. The facebook.com and

taringa.net (first and second positions) are followed by scribd.com. The Scribd is a

document sharing website based in the America. Digital activism has grown in Colombia

since 2008 and netizens (active internet users) have proved the power of social

networking in the country. Political debates and hostage rescue movements and

operations have triggered big digital mobilizations, especially on Facebook and Twitter,

where people gathered to support or criticize journalist’s and elected officials. However,

on most occasions this kind of activism stayed in the digital world and it did not become

real actions or mobilizations in the real world. Even though social media activism has

grown in recent years, it still concerns only a minority of the population.

Media Ownership

Until 2003 Caracol Radio was owned by the Bavaria Group which was headed by Julio

Mario Santo Domingo, the second richest in Colombia. In 2003, Caracol Radio was sold

to a Spanish media group Prisa. Prisa also owned several radio networks in Spain and

some countries in South America. The Santo Domingo Group remains the main owner of

Caracol Television and of the newspaper El Espectador. The Santos family was the main

32

shareholder of the El Tiempofor almost a century. At present, Planeta group is the main

owner of El Tiempo with 86 percent of the shares.

Few media personalities argue that international ownership has brought new

practices, new contents, ideas, technologies and formats to Colombian media.

International media groups bring standardized content options without considering local

audience preferences or practices. In 2006 Telmex, owned by Carlos Slim bought three of

the main cable and internet access operators - TVCable, Superview, and Cablepacifi

Company. After few months, Telmex bought two more - Cablecentro and Satelcaribe. At

present, Telmex is the largest cable television operator in the colombia with over 50

percent of the market share and the third largest internet access operator, with 21.9

percent of the market.

Media Freedom in Colombia

Reporters Without Borders has denounced that armed groups, corrupt politicians and

drug mafia’s as enemies of press freedom. Farc, a rebel group have used radio to spread

their propaganda and agenda. According to Freedom House, the private media are

generally free to express a range of opinions and they cover sensitive issues without

official curbs.

Death threats, kidnappings and physical attacks against journalists remain a

serious concern in Colombia. In 2013, one journalist and one another media worker were

murdered during their work. Edison Alberto Molina, a lawyer and host of a radio

program was shot and killed in september while riding his motorcycle in Puerto Berrio in

the department of Antioquia. Alberto Molina had frequently denounced local government

33

corruption on his program and had received several threats in leading up to the attack.

Later in September, Jose Dario Arenas - a newspaper vendor in Caicedonia in the

department of Valle del Cauca was shot dead by an unidentified gunman. Jose Arenas

had collaborated with some journalists to expose alleged misdeeds by guards at a local

prison. No suspects had been arrested in these cases as of the end of 2013.

Analysis of Functioning of Media in Colombia

Colombia is one of the most resilient democracies of South America, but it has struggled

for decades to maintain its democratic values even in the midst of a long lasting internal

armed conflict between paramilitaries, government forcesandguerrillas. The level of

violence and the illegal drug business has affected the national economy in many

corrosive ways. Public media have benefited from the digitization process. Renewal of

the infrastructure and equipment and the improvement of the signal coverage are among

the most important gains of digitization. The introduction of radio and television websites

can also be seen as a gain especially for audiences that have acquitted more tools to be

informed and entertained. Because of the latest computers and smart phones people who

live in non covered areas, can also listen and watch the public media programs and they

can do such activities more than once without relying on a specific schedule.

Digital experts agree that digital storytelling works differently, so news and

entertainment content should be presented in new ways. Several media enterprises have

changed their content to websites but they have not employed new narratives and styles.

They have not fully integrated the digital media tools into the journalistic process and

only a little attention is paid to audiences as news producers. This is what happened for

34

most of the regional print media that face the digital take-up with economic and technical

problems in comparison with national media like El Tiempo and El Espectador.

The National Television Authority (ANTV, Autoridad Nacional de Television)

should devise a new content policy for digital public television, drawing on good

practices from other South American countries. Such a new policy, in the context of the

advent of the digital television, the policy will help to increase the diversity of voices if it

includes, incentives (subsidies and tax relief) for new and independent media producers

to boost competition among several audiovisual creators and the creation of regional

content production centres.

The use of social networks has become a new communication channel between

journalists and citizens that enrich journalists work and allow citizens to participate in the

media agendain Colombia. Experts also agree that journalistic discipline must be stricter

in online. Fake sources, false and misleading information, and lack of context and

verification due to immediacy are bigger risks for accuracy in reporter’s daily work. It’s

very important that journalism schools must train future journalists not only in the new

tools for reporting online and new ways of storytelling, but also on the relevance of

journalistic discipline and ethics.

Despite the emergence of various media, the media market is still dominated by

traditional media enterprises and international conglomerates. This phenomenon, which

is a global trend - not only exclusive to Colombia or Latin America - brings both positive

and negative impacts.On the good side, media gain independence from local political

power.On the bad side, market and commercial principles reign over public and

democratic basis of the news media.

35

PERU

Official Country Name: Republic of Peru


Language(S): Spanish (official), Quechua and Aymara


Area: 1,285,216 sq. km


Capital City and Largest City: Lima

President: Ollanta Humala

Currency: Nuevo sol

Major Rivers: Ucayali, Maranon, Putumayo, Yavari,

Urubamba and Mantaro



Most Widespread Religion: Roman Catholicism

Major Exports: Copper, Gold, Zinc, Textiles and Fish meal

36

Backdrop

Peru was home to very old cultures spanning from the Norte Chico

civilization in Caral to the Inca Empire. The Spanish Empire occupied the region in the

16th century and established a Viceroyalty with its capital in Lima. Ideas of self-

governance later spread throughout Spanish America and Peru gained its independence

and were formally proclaimed in 1821. Peru ensured its independence three years after

proclamation. Peru has gone through many political disturbances and internal conflicts as

well as periods of stability and economic upswing.


Peru is a Presidential representative democratic republic with a multi party

system. The President is the head of state and government; president is elected for five

years and can seek re-election after standing down for at least one full term. The

President designates the Prime Minister and, with his advice, the rest of Council of

Ministers. Congress is unicameral with 130 members elected for five year terms.

Economy

Peru is a developing nation with a high Human Development Index score and

poverty level around 25.8 percent. Its main economic activities comprise agriculture,

manufacturing, mining and fishing. The Peruvian population is estimated at 31.2 million.

Peru is multiethnic; including Europeans, Africans, Amerindians and Asians. The major

spoken language is Spanish, although a large number of Peruvians speak Quechua and

other native languages. This combination of cultural traditions has resulted in a wide

diversity of expressions in fields such as literature, cuisine, art, and music.

37

Media Consumption and Preferences in Peru

Television was started in Peru on 15 December 1958 through the signal of Radio

America, today America Television. At present, there are seven television channels that

broadcast in the VHF signal - America Television, Panamericana Television, Andean TV

(Andina de Television, ATV), Latin Frequency (FrecuenciaLatina), TV Peru, Bicolor

Communications Network (Red Bicolor de Comunicaciones, RBC) and Global TV.

The Government announced the selection of the ISDB-Tb (International System

for Digital Broadcast - Terrestrial Brazilian version) standard for DTT on 23 April 2009.

The transition to the digital system will be completed in 2024, according to the Master

Plan for the Implementation of DTT in Peru. According to the Supervising Agency for

Private Investment in Telecommunications of Peru (OSIPTEL), there are four important

cable operators: Telefonica Del Peru SAA, Telmex Peru SA, Telefonica Multimedia

SAUK and Direct TV Peru SRL. Cable TV grew significantly in 2010 due to the Soccer

World Cup in South Africa. It is essential to mention that there is a high rate of illegal

cable connectivity in Peru. It is assumed that in 2012 more than 1 million households had

cable. Operators estimated that only 824,060 households had an authorized connection,

which would mean that more than 215,000 cable connections were illegal.

Telefonica is the strongest company in telecoms. Cable Magico, distributes

multimedia and news content through its production channels: CMD for sports and Plus

TV for mixed content. According to OSIPTEL, the companies that offer satellite

television services are DIRECTV and Telmex. In 2010, there were 136,994 subscriptions

to Telmex services and around 68,000 subscriptions to DIRECTV services. In Lima, FTA

television is the main means of accessing information (preferred by 94 percent of citizens

38

in 2013), print media (preferred by 82 percent), radio (72 percent) and the internet

(47percent). The most watched television channels are America Television (50 percent),

ATV (18 percent) and Latin Frequency (9 percent).

Newspaper Readership rates (2011)

Trome 1,824,600

Ojo 526,070

El Commercio 467,640

Peru21 253,400

El Popular 225,300

(Source: General Media Study 2011)

Even though the regional press has a very small reach, but still some newspapers

are important news sources in their areas. This is the case for La Industria in Trujillo,

regional editions of El Tiempo and Correo in Chiclayo. Some radio stations are grouped

into the National Radio Coordinator (Coordinadora Nacional de Radio, CNR). Some

television channels, radio stations and printed newspapers make use of digital tools that

contribute to the active participation of users and generate more interactivity, so readers,

listeners and viewers can also produce information.

On the websites of printed newspapers have videos and the facility for users to

comment on the news. Associated blogs written by staff writers of media organisations

has become a segment of specialized information that satisfies certain user groups. El

Comercio is the newspaper that has developed the concept of the virtual community on

its website. As of 2014, the five most visited web pages were Google, the social network

Facebook, Google Peru, YouTube, and Windows Live. The main online sites for news

39

were Peru21.pe, Rpp.com.pe, Elcomercio.pe, Deperu.com and Terra.com.pe. It is

interesting to note the increase in the use of social networks in 2014, with Facebook

(2,100,000 visitors), YouTube (3,000,000 visitors), hi5 (350,000 visitors), Twitter

(50,000 visitors) and Blogger (30,000 visitors).


In Peru, there is no clear public service model for the mass media. However, the

Government and other social actors manage some radio and television stations which are

defined and described as ‘public’. These outlets give prior importance for the

broadcasting of educational and cultural content.

There are 45 radio and television companies, 18 TV stations and 27 radio stations

in the public/state category. Of these, 30 belong to municipalities, 11 are universities, two

belong to some regional governments and two national stations are managed by the

government through the National Institute of Radio and Television of Peru (Instituto

Nacional de RadioTelevision del Peru, IRTP). The IRTP was formed in July 1996 with

the purpose of prioritizing and institutionalizing functions and activities for the

production and broadcasting of educational, information, cultural, and entertainment

contents through the public/state broadcasting media. Since 2003, it has been considered

as a decentralized public agency of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. This

institute is in charge for ensuring that TV Peru, Chronicle Radio (Radio La Cronica) and

Peru National Radio (Radio Nacional del Peru), reach the whole population with

educational, informational, cultural and entertainment.

40

TV Peru is the public TV network. It has been used by government as a

propaganda platform. Established in 1958 as a body of the Ministry of Education

(Ministerio de Educacion), TV Peru - which at that time was simply called Canal 7 was

the first television station aired in Peru, the first channel to broadcast in colour (since

1978) and the first to start digital signal transmissions (since 30 March 2010). For many

years, it had the maximum territorial coverage in the country, but a 2010 study by CPI

ranked it second (89.5 percent of national coverage, against 93.6 percent for ATV). TV

Peru’s contents are streamed live on the website. It has a permanent video streaming

channel called TV Peru News Online (TV Peru Noticias Line) which broadcasts some

news related to the official activities of the president or ministers.


Ipsos APOYO conducted a study entitled “Uses of and Attitudes to the Internet 2010”,

which pointed out that almost 73 percent of internet users in Chile have a social network

account. The first group that drew attention on the social network Facebook was called

“No a Keiko” (No to Keiko). As of April 2011, this group had 114,631 followers. In

November 2009 the page was blocked by Facebook due to a suspected violation to the

terms of use by the group administrators. Keiko Fujimori is the daughter of the former

president Alberto Fujimori, who was imprisoned for corruption and human rights

violations and she was running for the presidency.

One of the best successful campaigns with human interests was in May 2009

when the blog El Higado de Aquiles (www.akilesmartin.blogspot.com) run from Trujillo

by Aquiles Cabrera, which mobilized people to help Peruvian children who were dying of

41

cold due to the extreme weather in some areas of the highlands. Because of this blog, the

media started sending reporters to the areas affected and covered the news which allowed

the issue to be made known to a larger number of people and efficient support

mechanisms to be generated.


The constitution guarantees freedom for media. The Transparency Law (2002) requires

public entities to inform citizens about nominations, expenses, and budgets. Digitization

facilitates the conquest of a greater freedom of expression and stresses the importance of

journalistic self-regulation. The Radio and Television Law (Ley de Radio y Television,

LRTV) which was approved in 2004, states that the distribution and granting of the

broadcasting spectrum is a duty of the MTC. Broadcasting frequencies are distributed on

the basis of an established National Frequency Allocation Plan (Plan Nacional de

Atribucion de Frecuencias, PNAF) published on the MTC website and it relies on a

particular technical team to help with its development. The Law on Official Advertising

was implemented on 14 August 2006. Though some experts claim its provisions of are

not clear enough to be effective.

Media Ownership

On 28 September 2007, owner of the Empresa Editora El Comercio, Miro Quesada

family acquired a share in Prime Media (a company of the Santo Domingo group) in

Group TV Peru. The Miro Quesada family paid more than US$39 million to the

Colombian group Santo Domingo to become the major associate of the America

Television channel and cable channel N.Currently, there are a few media conglomerates:

42

the El Comercio Group (newspapers El Comercio, Peru21,Trome, Gestion, and others) of

Miro Quesada family; the La Republica Group(newspapers La Republica, El Libero and

Popular) owned by the Mohme Seminario family,and the RPP Group (RPP TV and radio

stations RPP Noticias, Radio Felicidad, and LaMega) of Manuel Delgado Parker.

Analysis of Functioning of Media in Peru

The digitization is still in its early stages in Peru where the transition to digital terrestrial

television (DTT) will not be finalized until 2024 and the impact of online communication

is still limited. Television and radio remain the most important media tools to access

news and entertainment in Peru. The internet has not caused a great change in the way

news and internet is consumed. The reason for this is the low broadband penetration,

lower than other countries in the region. Online platforms are not yet a significant source

of news and entertainment.

Social networks are experiencing noteworthy growth and it is only a question of

time and research before the effects will be manifested in shifts in media consumption.

Although online mobilizations have not been able to create a massive crowd or to put

new concerns on the public agenda, online tools are used more to reinforce different

positions on issues of public concern. Online networks have increased the news offering

generated by users in Chile. Traditional media outlets also collect this information for

people to become familiar with more events. A link shared on social media allows people

to get acquainted with national or international news.There have been five changes to the

regulation and three to the LRTV since its approval. This indicates that there is some

work to improve the legislation. For example, there is a need for an autonomous body

43

with an institutional shield that would administrate the concessions. The issue of stations

operating outside the law is critical. There are many illegal stations, which are related to

an ignorance of the legal policies for broadcasters.

As a whole, the general framework of laws, policies, and regulations does not

meet the challenges faced by media in Peru. The Master Plan for the Implementation of

DTT was adopted in 2010 as a Supreme Decree, without debate in Congress. The Radio

and Television Law of 2004, has been repeatedly amended. While there is some work

being done to improve the legislation, there is still much to do if Peru is to gather the full

benefits of digitization. In order to enjoy digital TV, Peruvians must have a television

with built-in ISDB-T tuner or a decoder, so the prices of this new technology have to be

considered. The cost of DTT receivers still puts them away from reach for the majority. It

is significant that apart from improving the resolution of the image and sound, the quality

of the contents should also improve.

Can Peruvians take better benefit from digital media? Without doubt, the answer

is yes, but since these tools are available only few section of the population, the support

of the established media is required.

44

CHILE

Official Country Name: Republic Of Chile


Official Language(S): Spanish


Area: 756,096 Sq. Km (38th)

GDP: $264.095 Billion ( Per Capita -$14,911)

Capital City And Largest City: Santiago

President: Michelle Bachelet

Currency: Peso

Major River’s: Biobio, Loa, Baker, Maule And Palena

Major Biological Diversity: Torres Del Paine National Park And

Conguillio National Park

Major Ethnic Groups: Caucasians, Mestizo And Amerindian

Tourist Destinations: San Pedro De Atacama, Valley Of The

Moon, Conguillio National Park And

Chungara Lake


Most Widespread Religion: Christianity

Major Exports: Copper, Fish, Fruits, Paper And Pulp, And

Chemicals.

45

Backdrop

Spain conquered and colonised Chile in the mid-16th century, replacing Inca

rule in northern and central Chile. Chile declares independence from Spain in 1818. In

the late 1960s and early 1970s, the country experienced many left-right political

polarizations. This development culminated with the 1973 Chilean coup d’état that

overthrew Salvador’s left wing government and instituted a 16 year long right-wing

military dictatorship that left around 3,000 people dead or missing. The organization

headed by Augusto Pinochet ended in 1990 after losing a referendum in 1988 and was

succeeded by centre-left coalition which ruled through four presidencies until 2010.


The current Constitution was approved in September 1980, under the military

government of Augusto Pinochet. After Pinochet's defeat in the 1988, the constitution

was amended to ease provisions for future amendments to constitution. In

2005September, President Ricardo Lagos signed several constitutional amendments

passed by the Congress. This include eliminating the positions of senators for life,

granting the President authority to remove chief commanders of the armed forces and

reducing the presidential term from 6 to 4 years.

Economy

Chile has the highest degree of economic freedom in South America (ranking 7th

worldwide), owing to the independent and effective Judicial system and prudent public

finance management. In 2006, Chile became the country with the highest GDP per capita

in Latin America. Copper mining makes up 20% of Chilean GDP and 60% of exports.

46

Media Consumption and Preferences in Chile

The Chileans used mass media at least five times per week; people who consumed news

and entertainment on digital platforms reported spending 2.1 hours a day specifically on

internet sites, 3.9 hours for total radio consumption and 3.4 hours for FTA television.

Access to news and entertainment is essentially based on conventional media. Among

these, terrestrial television still continues to be the main platform, followed by radio. The

annual surveys by the Chilean National Television Council (Consejo Nacional de

Television, CNTV) demonstrated that 85 percent of the population consumes FTA

television every day, 60 percent consumes radio daily, 48 percent cable reception

television, 20 percent internet and just 17 percent prefer newspapers.

Annual Audience Share 2013

Ownership Share

TVN Public 18.4

Mega Bethia Group 17.6

CHV Time Warner 17.1

UCTV Luksic Group 13

(Source: IBOPE)

Chileans consider television and radio as the most credible, independent and

influential media. FTA broadcasts are the main news and entertainment providers for

most of the population. The four most important broadcasts are provided by the country’s

only public television channel (Television Nacional de Chile, TVN) and three

commercial channels: Canal 13 (owned by entrepreneur Andronico Luksic and

Universidad Catolica); Megavision, (acquired in March 2012 by Grupo Bethia S.A) and

47

Chilevision (acquired in 2010 by Time Warner and previously owned by Chile’s current

president, Sebastian Pinera).

In Latin America, Chile is second to Argentina in its penetration rates for pay-TV.

Cable is dominated by VTR Globalcom, 80 percent of which belongs to the US based

Liberty Media and the remaining 20 percent belongs to the Chilean entrepreneur Alvaro

Saieh. CNN-Chile was established in December 2008, and with the support of CNN

Worldwide it can draw on the output of more than 4,000 journalists around the world.

According to CNTV statistics, the Chilean public broadcaster (Television Nacional de

Chile, TVN) was the most consumed terrestrial channel in 2010, and in 2011 the top

channel was the private broadcaster Chilevision. TVN is the only non-commercial news

provider in the country and has a mission of public service and is regulated by law to

serve the public need for information, entertainment, and education. All other main news

and entertainment providers - the print press, broadcasts or radio, and their web sites - are

commercially oriented in the sense that they consider advertisement demands, circulation,

and readership rates and ratings to set their news agendas.

The Chilean print newspaper market is small but well established. News

magazines are few and have very low circulations and are often short lived. Based on The

National Press Association (Asociacion Nacionalde la Prensa, ANP) statistics, four

newspapers with national reach considered to be the main news providers in the print

press - El Mercurio and Las Ultima Noticias, both from the family enterprise Empresa El

Mercurio SAP and their competitors La Tercera and La Cuarta, both from the family

enterprise COPESA.

48

Newspaper average readership rates 2011

La Cuarta 397,363

El Mercurio 382,165

Las Ultimas Noticias 334,867

La Tercera 312,847

(source: Associacion Nacional De Prensa)

According to 2010 Alexa.com data, the most visited news media sites are those of

the popular newspaper Las Ultimas Noticias, Lun.com, the digital newspaper of El

Mercurio SAP, Emol.com and the digital newspaper Latercera.com of LaTercera. The

three top websites are YouTube, Facebook, and MSN. Lacuarta.cl and Mercurio.cl are

the other major newspaper websites.

Chilean radio, although exhibiting very high audience rates, primarily assumes the

function of accompaniment via music and talk radio rather than the dissemination of

information, and very few stations have newscasts. Many broadcasters do not have

newsrooms or a permanent staff of reporters and editors. The main radio stations that air

newscasts with national reach and have newsrooms and professional staff are Radio

Cooperativa, Radio Bio Bio, AND radio and Radio Agricultura.


State operation of media has historically only been associated with television and

newspaper, namely by the public broadcaster TVN and the daily La Nacion, respectively.

Radio has been a private and entertainment medium, with the exception of Radio

Nacional AM and Radio Colo Colo AM created by the military dictatorship of General

Pinochet (1973–1990) from confiscated leftist stations. Both were privatized after the

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return to democracy in 1990. The public broadcaster is distributed through pay-TV

systems only and has very low ratings.

Thus, among the state media only TVN has played a truly influential role and

been subject to public service considerations: both La Nacion and Radio Nacional were

not only mostly government propaganda outlets, but they also had lower impact, although

both enjoyed some periods of relatively high ratings and circulation rates before their

decline. Radio Nacional was fully privatized in 1995 and La Nacion terminated its print

edition in November 2010; since then it is only available online.


The most popular social networks generally reflect global trends, with Facebook leading

the way. Twitter is regarded as especially influential due to the high profile of its users.

Remarkably, although they are not social networking or UGC-related, two quite “old”

media sites feature in this list: the rival newspaper conglomerates El Mercurio and La

Tercera. This century old tabloid belonging to the Mercurio newspaper group defines its

news coverage according to the website’s audience traffic and therefore privileges

celebrity gossip and entertainment from terrestrial television content.

Top social networking sites (% of total internet user)

Facebook 85%

Fotolog 30.3%

Windowslive 28%

Twitter 9.8%

Badoo 7.7%

(Source: IBOPE)

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In 2010, citizens also used digital platforms such as mobile phones, Facebook,

and Twitter to get information about loved ones in the areas worst affected by the

earthquake and tsunami of 27 February. For many days, the internet and mobile

telephony were the only ways to contact families and friends. There were also cases of

panic induced by false reports about looting in some cities, which spread through social

networking sites and were amplified by television newscasts. Later in 2010, an

unexpected protest activated through mobile phones, Twitter, Facebook, and similar

websites succeeded in forcing the government to stop the construction of a coal powered

plant in Barrancones, on the northern coast of Huasco, near a nature reserve.

Investigative Journalism

There exists one relatively new and exclusively online site in Chile that only publishes

investigative journalism and this has become a reference point, setting the agenda for

other media on topics of public interest: CIPER-Chile (Ciperchile.cl). The Center for

Journalistic Investigation and Information (Centrode Investigacion e Informacion

Periodistica, CIPER) was co-founded in 2008 by John Dinges and journalist Monica

Gonzalez, who leads the Centre. The CIPER also draws a team of journalists to teach

investigative journalism workshops in journalism schools. In November 2010, CIPER-

Chile published a book, El periodismo que remece a Chile (Journalism that shakes Chile)

containing 12 major investigations carried out by the Centre over the past three years.

The main threat facing investigative journalism in Chile is the lack of resources. Other

threats mentioned by journalists are the influences exerted by audiences, media owners,

and advertisers.

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Media Ownership

CNN-Chile is a joint venture between VTR and Turner Broadcasting (a filial of Time

Warner). Newsgathering capacity across Chile was secured through an additional

agreement between CNN-Chile and Radio Bio Bio, an otherwise critical and fiercely

independent outlet known for attacking the powerful and the status quo whenever

possible.

Iberoamericana Radio Chile, an arm of the PRISA Spanish media conglomerate,

which owns the 12 most successful radio networks of national reach, attracts 60 percent

of audience share. PRISA had bought the four networks controlled by its most direct

rival, Colombia’s CRC, for US$75 million in 2007.The only newly launched media

outlets in the past five years are formed by journalists and political commentators: El

Post (Elpost.cl) and El Dinamo (Eldinamo.cl/), as well as a fiercely anti-government

weekly (in paper) created by left opposition politicians and analysts, Cambio 21

(Cambio21.cl).

Media Freedom in Chile

In 2013, Chile continued to provide a relatively open environment for press freedom and

reporting on most issues. The major debate in the previous year’s centered on the lack of

diversity within the media, particularly concentration in the print sector and the obstacles

faced by community radio. Freedoms of speech and of the press are guaranteed in the

constitution of Chile. Many of the weaknesses in the media environment stem from press

laws and ownership structures originated during dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973–

90), which governments in the democratic era have been unable to reform. Criminal

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defamation and insult laws have been used to silence journalists since Chile’s return to

democracy, often leading to public outcry.

Censorship of content is not practiced, but there is some self-censorship on

sensitive topics. Social protests remain a sensitive coverage topic, along with reporting on

the human rights violations occurred during the dictatorship. Compared to other South

American countries, Chilean journalists are rarely subjected to violence and threats by

state agents. The exception is the militarized carabineros police force, which at times has

targeted reporters and photographers during street protests.

Analysis of Functioning of Media in Chile

Chileans still get information mainly from FTA broadcasts and radio. If they had the

required technological devices and financial resources, audiences may widen th

e range of sources of access to media content. Among these sources are cable television

(CNN-Chile and TVN’s 24 Horas Noticias), social networking (Twitter and Facebook),

and online media (Elmostrador.cl and Ciperchile.cl), and perhaps some citizen papers.

Digitization encourages timely information, correction of errors, and continuous

updating. Social networking is especially useful for the real-time propagation of data

concerning emerging news stories and news about disasters. Furthermore, the digital

newspaper Elmostrador.cl and the investigative journalism site Ciperchile.cl have

become relevant agenda setters, thereby widening the topics covered in conventional

media and the sources considered in them. After the relative decline of university

channels and the recent closure of the paper version of the daily La Nacion, the term

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“public service media” is mostly understood as meaning the state-owned television

network,TVN. Nowadays, TVN defines itself as a multi-platform medium and indeed it

has a good website, a 24-hour news channel and a small digital laboratory.Citizens are

taking advantage of the opportunities offered by new media for activism. Some social

mobilizations orchestrated through social networking sites have indeed become breaking

news and spread accordingly, yet it is not clear if they became major social events

because of the media. In other cases, equally relevant issues also circulating in

cyberspace failed to attract media coverage.

In general, the framework of policies, laws, and regulation of the media and

journalism in Chile is still largely shaped according to a pre-convergent, analog

perspective. However, it already ensures economic competition, and free and independent

news production and dissemination. This has been the result of a long process of gradual

improvement, marked by the promulgation of a new Law on the Press in 2001, which

eliminated most legal restrictions to free expression enacted by the military dictatorship

(1973–1990) and before. There have been no significant changes in the nature and degree

of interference by state authorities in media and journalism over the past five years, aside

from the promulgation of the Law on Transparency in 2008, which facilitated citizen and

media access to information generated by public institutions. Digitization probably

played a very important role here, as well as the government’s genuine interest in

becoming more transparent and efficient - an effort that has been continuous since the

return of democracy in 1990.

Most Chilean media are today multi-platform in the sense that they have online

operations alongside their conventional analog versions. But their business models have

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not really changed yet. Telecoms are clearly the wealthiest actors on the scene, although

they are more engaged in distribution and network administration rather than in content

creation. In terms of the quality of reporting and news content, digitization allows the

access, filing, and processing of unprecedented volumes of data and information, which

can be accessed online at anytime and anywhere for a timely delivery of stories.

A major problem that threatens or diminishes the independence of news provision

is the media’s dependency on advertising finance in times of increasing competition for

relatively stagnant revenues. That dependency is aggravated by the consolidation of the

advertisers themselves: there are now fewer and more powerful retailers, supermarkets,

banks, insurance companies, pharmacy chains, and similar companies that put up most of

the money that constitutes the advertising giants from which most media live. It is also

likely that the “digital divide” will lessen as access to technology continues to grow and

becomes really massive (i.e. accessible to more than half of Chileans). As the problem of

access gradually disappears, the problem of the quality of that access is likely to become

prevalent.

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URUGUAY

Official Country Name: Eastern Republic of Uruguay


Language(S): Spanish (official), Portuguese and English


Area: 176,215sq. km


Capital City and Largest City: Montevideo

President: Tabare Vazquez

Currency: Uruguayan peso

Major Rivers: Rio de la Plata Basin, Laguna Merin and Rio

Negro


Most Widespread Religion: Roman Catholicism

Major Exports: Greasy wool, beeswax, Horse meat, vegetables,

soybeans and beef.

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Backdrop

Uruguay remained largely uninhabited until the establishment of the

Portuguese in 1680. Montevideo was founded as a military stronghold by the Spain in the

early 18th century, by signifying the competing claims over the region.Uruguay won its

independence between 1811 and 1828, following a four way struggle between Spain,

Brazil, Argentina andPortugal. Uruguay remained subject to many foreign influence and

intervention throughout the 19th century, with the military regime playing a major role in

domestic politics until the late 20th century.


Uruguay is a representative democratic republic with a presidential system. The

members of government are elected for a five year term. Uruguay is a unitary state in

which justice, education, foreign policy, security and defense are all are administered

nationwide. The Executive Power is exercised by the president and ministers. Uruguay

adopted its current constitution in 1967. Uruguayans are among the most supportive of

democracy and the most satisfied with the way democracy works in their country.

Economy

Uruguay contributes more troops to United Nations peacekeeping missions than

any other countryon per capita basis. It ranks second in South America on economic

freedom, income equality, per capita income and inflows of FDI. Uruguay is the third

best country in the continent in terms of HDI, GDP growth, infrastructure

andinnovation. It is considered as a high income nation (top group) by the United Nations

and the only one in Latin America.

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Media Consumption and Preferences in Uruguay

Television is the principal medium for entertainment and news for consumers. The

leading position has shifted from one channel to another, alternating between the three

major private channels, but without defining a usual leader for the period 2003–2013.

Still, Channel 12 maintained a significant lead compared with the other channels in terms

of news. Among the private broadcasters, Channel 10 has the lowest share. The public

channel has historically shown a much lower level of viewers compared with the private

channels. Teledoce, TV Ciudad and Monte Carlo TV are the major entertainment

channels in Uruguay.

Access to FTA television is practically universal, since over 90 percent of the

population consumes television in this way. Pay-TV also reached more than half of the

population by 2011. The digital television services via satellite or DirecTV, reached some

9 percent of the market between 2012 and 2014. According to a 2012 study of media

consumption, almost the whole population (96 percent) watches television on a daily

basis, a percentage which had not changed during the previous decade. The number of

daily radio listeners in 2011 represented 74 percent of all Uruguayans, but has diminished

gradually since 2013, with around 10 percent of regular listeners lost every year.

Although most media usage is geared to traditional mass media, but the presence

of the internet has increased a great deal. Internet users at national level is over half of the

population (70 percent) by 2014. More than two thirds of households with an internet

connection in 2014 had broadband connection. The number of households with at least

one PC rose significantly between 2004 and 2014, reaching 75 percent of the population,

though urban areas are covered better.

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Newspaper circulations have varied to some extent throughout the decade.

According to a 2014 study on media preferences, some 38 percent of the population read

a newspaper at least once a week. Middle aged adults with better educations with a better

monthly income are more common readers of newspapers. El Pais was founded in 1918

by a leader of the National Party. The newspaper El Pais has proven to be the supreme

leader in readership in the past seven years. It was the first newspaper in South America

to have a full color front page. El Observador was founded in 1991 by Ricardo Peirano

and is currently owned by a company controlled by Uruguayan and foreign capital. It was

the first Uruguayan newspaper with a digital edition, launched online on its 15th

anniversary. At the same time, El Observador changed the Saturday publication from a

traditional newspaper to a magazine like format serving up analysis, including in-depth

news analysis. La Republica was founded in May 1988. This national newspaper with a

leftist viewpoint covers political, economic and cultural news. First published March

2006, La Diaria newspaper’s editorial line may be described as critical and progressive.

The newspaper El Pais is the main media website accessed on the web by

Uruguayans, followed by montevideo.com, La Republica,El Observador and El

Espectador. The information on the El Pais and El Observador websites is always

updated, but on the La Republica website news is updated only once a day. Launched in

1991, montevideo.com publishes political, sports, technology, cultural, economic and

general news from Uruguay and rest of the world. It also includes interactive sections and

programmes for user participation.

In December 2014, some 54 percent of Uruguayans in Montevideo had the

experience of consuming news on digital platforms, while only 39 percent of them were

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solely readers of print media. The increase in digital readers since 2008 could be related

to the continued fall in print press consumption. At the same time, the digital

consumption of news content is more frugal than in print media. Although the number of

readers of digital content quadrupled in less than three years, the average time readers

spend consuming news online is much lower than in the print press. In May 2013, the

average reading time for the printed press was 54 minutes per week, while the average for

online editions of the press was 37 minutes.


The public media system dates back to the creation in 1929 of the Official Service of

Television, Radio, Broadcast and Entertainment (Servicio Oficial de Difusion,

Radiotelevision Espectaculos, SODRE). Task of SODRE is to produce and broadcast

cultural and news programs. Today, SODRE comprises four radio stations with national

coverage - Babel 97.1 FM, Clasica 650 AM, Uruguay 1050 AM, and Emisora del Sur

94.7 FM. Uruguay mainly focuses news and journalism, and contents are distributed

through news bulletins. Clasica focuses mainly on classical music. Babel airs blocks of

musical programs, mostly jazz, world music, blues, and classical music. Emisora del sur

airs mostly Uruguayan popular music and national rock music, with less news and

journalism. All of SODRE’s radio stations may be listened to online.

In 2002, television Channel 5 which is known as National Television of Uruguay

(Television Nacional Uruguay, TNU), a FTA television service with national coverage

was ceased to belong to SODRE when it became an independent agency reporting to the

Ministry of Education and Culture with greater autonomy in management and finances.

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Channel 5 went on air in 1963 and has always been recognized as the country’s public

television channel. At first, it telecasted mostly its own productions, which were

considered by journalists and the public as of high quality and later the channel’s image

suffered a strong setback because of the increase in productions by third parties.

Introduced in 1996, City TV (Teve Ciudad) is a public channel controlled by the

municipality of the City of Montevideo, distributed by some private cable operators. The

first local public channel of Uruguay, City TV is the outcome of discussions with cable

operators dating from the time when the municipality was committed to install a new

cable network in the city. Despite limitations, the channel has created a new model of

public television by focusing on various cultural productions.


News portals such as Montevideo.com, Elpaisdigital.com, 180.com and Observa.com

rank among the most visited websites in Uruguay. This websites has feeds and links to

the major social networks. Uruguay has a tradition of social movements with national

coverage that are not officially related to the political parties, state or religious

institutions. Some of the most popular such movements are the Federation of Trade

Unions and National Worker’s Convention, and the Federation of University Students of

Uruguay, cooperative movements such as the Federation of Mutual Aid Housing

Cooperatives. Most of these movements use digital platforms to spread their claims and

achievements.

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Freedom of speech and media are guaranteed by the Uruguayan constitution. Reporters

Without Borders opined that Uruguay "stands out as an exception on a continent with a

very marked media polarisation". In December 2014, implementation of the Law of

Audiovisual Communication Services (LSCA), which is known as the Media Law,

increased media pluralism by redistributing the broadcast frequencies - one-third will go

to community media, one-third to state media, and one-third to commercial stations. The

law also established an independent Broadcasting Communication Council tasked with

enforcing the media law. It requires at least 60 percent of the public programming to be

produced or coproduced in Uruguay.

There have been notable advances in guarantees for ethical journalism in the past

five years. Most notably, a Professional Code of Ethics for Journalists was accepted by

the board of APU on 12 April 2013, which is sponsored by the International Program for

the Development of Communications of UNESCO. This code was the first program in

Uruguay for the self-regulation of journalists. The recommendations aim at increasing the

exercise of good quality journalism, covering a number of issues ranging from searching

for and spreading information to the uniqueness of news coverage and a respect for

individuals and communities by accepting the cultural and social diversity and the

appropriate use of language.

DINATEL was formed in December 2005 as part of the Ministry of Industry,

Energy and Mining (Ministerio Industria Energia Mineria, MIEM). Its main role is to

prepare and organize state policies for telecommunications. The TCC was set up by

DINATEL in 2010 to create a report that would serve as a base for a Law on Audiovisual

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Communication Services. The report was completed, but DINATEL continued to work

on the finalizing of the bill. On 21 May 2013, the bill was published on the office website

of president, but Parliament is continuing to debate about it.

The Decree-Law on DTT was applied until a new decree-law, adopted by the

government on 31 December 2012 which granted digital licenses to current private

channels without competition. The DTT Decree-Law assures the transparency of the

licensing procedure for digital stations and the access of citizens to this procedure.

Major Media Players

FTA nationwide television in Montevideo is controlled by three media conglomerates:

Channel 10 (Fontaina - De Feo Group), Channel 4 (Romay Salvo / Romay Eccher

Group), and Channel 12 (Cardoso- Pombo Scheck Group). These groups also hold four

of the five pay-TV licenses in the capital city and through they also control the

distribution of content of all FTA television stations and cable TV services in the

provinces.

The Romay-Salvo/Romay-Eccher Group has been owned from its very beginning

by Maria Elvira Salvo de Martinez Arboleya and her children Hugo, Walter Angel, and

Daniel Romay. At present, this group is the owner of the corporation Montecarlo TV

Channel 4, which is the group’s flagship channel, plus Channel 11 in Punta Del Este,

Channel 4 in Dolores, Channel 8 in Rosario, Channel 12 in Fray Bentos and Channel 3 in

Colonia. This Group also owns the AM radio station CX 20 Montecarlo, the FM Radio

Cero and FM del Rio in Colonia.

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The Fontaina-De Feo Group came about through the merging of the Fontaina and

De Feo families. In the FTA television market, the group presently controls Saeta TV

Channel 10 with national coverage, the company is running Channel 9 in Rocha and

Channel 7 in Maldonado. In the cable TV market, the group also controls the Tractoral

(TCC) in Montevideo, Rodacil and TDH Satelital, and Radio Carve and Nuevo tiempo.

The Cardoso-Pombo Scheck media Group is controlled by several family groups;

most shares are held by the Scheck family. In the FTA television sector, this group

currently owns the company Televisora Larranaga which owns La tele - the most popular

channel in the group, and Channel 2 in Maldonado. In the cable TV sector, the group

controls the Riselco (Nuevo Siglo) in Montevideo and Latinoamerica Television.

Analysis of Functioning of Media in Uruguay

Media consumption has undergone a change towards the digital age as increasing

numbers of people switched to digital platforms. However, news and entertainment is

mainly consumed via TV and radio. The print media accessible on the internet have been

also growing and merging with other digital platforms. Nevertheless, this has not yet led

to prominent improvements in news quality or diversity.

Uruguayan public television channels have much to gain from digitization.

Channel 5 benefitted from the entry of City TV, which by tackling unaddressed or new

topics and innovating in other ways has forced television stations to enhance their

programming. For example, it covers topics such as autocracy and human rights and has

brought out cultural programs aiming local audiences and topics like popular culture such

as carnivals and rock music. This new approach made some private television companies

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to adopt similar changes and styles. In the new circumstances, the challenge of public

television is on one hand to produce its own good quality content, innovative and

attractive, oriented to the public, in opposition to the commercial model. On the other

hand, it should also look for sustainable financing to enable the generation of good

quality content.

Digitization has had a positive impact on journalism in Uruguay as it has

enhanced the diversity of sources, access to records and international news agencies and

the use of multimedia resources. Digital media have certainly strengthened the presence

of marginal groups in the news, but coverage of these groups is still not enough or truly

comprehensive. Most of Uruguay’s radio, press and TV stations are owned by a few

business groups. The media system is highly concentrated in terms of ownership. The

consolidation of cable television doesn’t have any outcome on this situation. Although no

single group controls the whole media market, the few groups operating the media sector

have built a kind of oligopoly. This condition has not been changed by digitization,

though changes may originate upon the implementation of the Decree-Law on DTT,

which is likely to enable competition in the private television sector and to allow

newcomers to enter. More diversity is expected to come with this process as the decree-

law reserves spectrum for community media. It will expand the space available to the

public media and multiplies the number of private television channels, in addition to

impose rules to increase the transparency of media ownership.

Over the past decade the government has reinforced the set of laws regarding

spectrum and the design of communications policies, based on the formation of state

agencies such as DINATEL (2005) and URSEC (2001). This institutionalization has

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improved the mechanisms to guarantee media independence. It has also generated

initiatives to amend legislation on media ownership, licensing conditions and increasing

national contents that provide a public service. The new institutionalism constitutes a

landmark in Uruguay’s political history. At the same time, it must not be forgotten that

the political will to strengthen the media system ultimately lies in the hands of the

president, whose opinion on the subject has created much uncertainty and serious debate

in recent years.

The greatest advances in the legal sphere over the past five years are the Decree-

Law on DTT, the Law on Community Broadcasting Service, and the bill on audiovisual

communication services. The prospects for consumers to access a wide range of voices

and contents on DTT have been enhanced by the Decree-law on Digital Terrestrial

Television. This is a period of historic changes in communications policy in Uruguay.

However, the government has achieved no general political agreement among the

different parties about the direction that policy should take. The enactment of the LSCA

would represent a noteworthy step toward reforming the entire media system.

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List of Abbreviations used

APU : Uruguayan Press Association (Asociacion de la Prensa Uruguaya)

CNTV : National Television Council (Consejo Nacional de Television)

DTT : Digital Terrestrial Television

FTA : Free-To-Air

GDP : Gross Domestic Product

IPTV : Internet Protocol Television

ISDB-T : Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting - Terrestrial

ISP : Internet Service Provider

ITU : International Telecommunication Union

MTC : Ministry of Transportation and Communication

SCA : Audiovisual Communication Services Law(Servicios de Comunicacion

Audiovisual)

NGO : Non Governmental Organization

STB : Set-Top Box

UGC : User-Generated Content

VHF : Very High Frequency

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Marcela Valente. ARGENTINA: Opposition, Media Giants to Fight New Law.

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International Communication Project - South America

Education

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