Milei suspends public funding for media advertising for a year

Javier Milei’s decision to suspend any official advertising for a year is a mix of spending cuts and campaign promises, say sources close to the Argentine president.

The first reason for the measure, announced this morning by the Presidency’s spokesperson, is the absolute lack of resources. “No hay plata”, Milei repeated several times during the campaign. The country is preparing for an intense fiscal squeeze.

The second is a campaign promise, which refers to liberalism and also to right-wing flags attacking the press shared by leaders such as Jair Bolsonaro and Donald Trump.

As a matter of principle, Milei argues that media companies have to survive without support from the State, to avoid undue editorial pressure.

During the campaign, Milei also criticized what he calls in Spanish “shadows” — “envelope” journalists, who were supposedly paid to defend a political spectrum.

Milei also promised to end public information channels such as C5N, a public TV with strongly Kirchnerist programming.

In Brazil, former president Jair Bolsonaro had also committed to closing the EBC at the time of the election campaign, but went back on it.

Source: CNN Brasil

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