The Media School

Comunicar: Latin American Perspectives Series

'The Politics of Media in Argentina and South America: A case study of the Christina Fernandez Kirchner Administration'

Wednesday 15 Dec, 14:00 in PG146

In response to new domestic, regional and international configurations of power and development a new Argentine right wing has emerged. This new right maintains strong features from its past but, at the same time, its composition and strategies define a new identity more aligned with hemispheric, conservative and neoliberal tendencies, working within democratic settings, supported by media monopolies and epistemic communities bound to multilateral financial institutions.

This paper will examine the emergence of the new right and the role of corporate media in Argentina in shaping public opinion regarding the Christina Fernandez Kirchner Administration from 2007 to present. In particular, the paper will explore how, in 2010, only two years after Argentine media monopolies predicted a total caving in of the administration, on the contrary, a strong coalition has now been formed, leading reforms, gaining social consensus and readying the path for future reforms.

This talk is organised by Media School's Latin America Research Group in collaboration with the Journalism Research Group.

Dr. Ernesto Vivares is currently a researcher and senior lecturer at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences, FLACSO-Ecuador. His publications have focused on the political economy of development in South America, politics and media in the new regional left, the political economy of the financing of development in the region and new South American regionalism. His forthcoming publications include 'A Political Economy of Regional Development Banks: The Inter-American Development Bank's role in Argentina in the 1990s' (Routledge) and 'Neoliberal and Conservative Opposition in Argentine Politics' in G. Lievesly and S. Ludlam (eds.) 'The New Struggle for Social Justice in Latin America'(Zed Books).