Abstract
Argentina’s president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, has used emergency TV broadcasts nine times in the first four months of 2014, and for reasons that are often relatively trivial.
A female presenter announces that President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is about to address “the 40 million Argentinians” from a meeting celebrating the spoken word, at the Tecnópolis science and technology park in Buenos Aires. The crowd goes wild, as if they were attending a rock concert rather than a regular political rally. As the build-up reaches a crescendo, Fernández grabs the microphone and tells the crowd to “listen up”, before introducing a rapper and a stand-up comedian, who perform on stage as the entire country listens.
This, for the audience at home, is where things take a surreal twist. Having programming interrupted for the cadena nacional (national broadcast) is not unusual in itself – especially under Fernández’s presidency, during which time televised speeches have become increasing common. But for a burst of light entertainment? Fernandez insisted the occasion – the opening of a new exhibit “that celebrates the use of the word” – was important. News channels, who live-tweeted the announcements as usual, ended up sounding bizarre in their dead-pan delivery: “#NOW on the National Broadcast, the rapper Mustafá Yoda”.
The national broadcast – in Argentina, as well as in other Latin American countries – enables the head of state to simultaneously interrupt the normal programming of network television and radio stations in order to address the population. Traditionally, it has been used to convey an important message, or to address the population on holidays, such as Independence Day or the anniversary of the Falklands War.
With less than two years left in office and her popularity waning, Fernández seems to be increasing reliant on the national broadcast to reassure the public and speak out against her critics. By early April this year, she had already used it nine times. Sometimes to unveil a new policy; sometimes to talk down her critics; sometimes just to show she is still at the helm. In January, she was unusually silent for almost six weeks, sparking fears about her health, following brain surgery last October. She returned with a typically defiant broadcast: “I hope nobody criticises this nationally televised address after demanding my presence so much.”
Above: Cristina Fernández de Kirchner delivers a speech at the Casa Rosada, the presidential palace in Buenos Aires
Credit: Xinhua/Alamy
Argentina has been under the rule of the Victory Front party for 11 years now. Néstor Kirchner served as president from 2003 to 2007, and was followed in the role by his wife, who was elected after her husband’s first term, re-elected in 2011, and is expected to leave office by the end of next year as she is constitutionally prevented from running for a third term.
But ever since a conflict over export duties with the farming sector in 2008 created a division in public opinion, the presidential couple has had a polarising effect on the population. Although Kirchner’s sudden death from a heart attack in 2010 caused a temporary surge in sympathy for his widow, opinion continues to be divided.
Fernández is heavily criticised for her decision to bypass the media on a regular basis and resort to one-way channels of communication, such as social media and the national broadcast. Historically, the broadcast has always been considered an effective medium for reaching the population, especially in times of dire need, such as in December 2001, when then president Fernando De la Rúa used it to declare martial law amid growing social unrest that would end with his resignation only a few hours later.
The Broadcast Media Law, which was passed by Congress in 2009, regulated the national broadcast, stating that “in exceptional or grave situations, as well as in those of institutional relevance”, the executive branch could make use of the airwaves to send a message across the entire country. But even though it was Fernández who spearheaded the media law, she has been accused of predominantly using the national broadcast as a tool for political propaganda. Many consider most of her announcements as neither exceptional, nor grave, nor relevant.
Ever since she was elected, Fernández has barely spoken to reporters. Her obligation, she says, “is to inform the public about her acts of government”, not respond to journalists’ questions. Whenever she is accused of not speaking to the press, she replies that “she speaks every day”, and that is mostly true, except that she’s referring to the extensive media coverage of her political rallies and ceremonies that, until recently, used to happen on an almost daily basis. With the exception of television channel Todo Noticias, currently at odds with her administration after the Broadcast Media Law forced its parent company Grupo Clarín to divest, all other news networks regularly broadcast her speeches live.
Ever since she was elected, Fernández has barely spoken to reporters
Surrounded by hundreds of supporters and cabinet members who cheer and applaud, Fernández’s addresses tend to follow a simple modus operandi: first, she announces the reason for making use of the national broadcast – which could be the inauguration of a new school or a rise in pensions. After the presentation, her speech becomes more political, confrontational, and usually focuses on criticising – directly or indirectly – the media or the opposition, as she constantly reminds the population of her administration greatest achievements. During her time in office, the national broadcast has been used to blast the judiciary after an unfavorable ruling, to announce the creation of a new credit line for small and medium-sized businesses, and to inform the country about her decision to convert all her savings in dollars to pesos, in a display of patriotism that she hoped would set an example that many others would follow. Her messages can range from 20 minutes to four hours, and their use seems to have increased since her party suffered a terrible defeat in the midterm elections last October.
Critics have compared Fernández to other regional leaders, such as Ecuador’s Rafael Correa and the late president of Venezuela Hugo Chávez, both known for their crusades against large media groups, and for making an extensive use of their own national broadcasts – with Chávez once speaking before the cameras for over nine hours.
When Fernández does, very occasionally, agree to a press interview, it has often led to criticism. The chosen reporter is usually ideologically aligned with her government and focuses on anecdotal chat, instead of pitching hardball questions about inflation, poverty or corruption. Meanwhile, major political leaders in the opposition, such as Buenos Aires mayor Mauricio Macri or lawmaker Sergio Massa, have embraced the press conference, engaged in debates and appeared as guests on television shows.
During overseas trips, Fernández has sometimes been confronted with the inevitable press conference, but she is quick to cast aside any unwanted questions about domestic policy with a simple answer: this is neither the time nor the place to discuss that. Most notably, in September 2012, she was invited to give speeches in the universities of Harvard and Georgetown, in the United States. On both occasions, she was greeted with packed auditoriums, with not only college students but also Argentinian expats. In Argentina, the speeches were broadcast live – albeit not via national broadcast – by most media outlets.
She spoke about her administration’s many accomplishments – especially those resonating better with the international community, such as marriage equality and the persecution of human rights violators. But it was the unavoidable question and answer session that turned the experience sour, since attendees took the opportunity to ask the kind of questions that journalists in Argentina never could. Begrudgingly, she was forced to provide students with answers, from her rapidly increasing wealth during her time in office to accusations of cooking the books to conceal inflation. She came over as arrogant, defensive and outside of her comfort zones. The Argentinian media had a field day, and she immediately took to Twitter to perform damage control.
Just like the national broadcast, social networks, such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, have also been an extremely effective tool for Fernández. With over 2.6 million followers on Twitter, she manages to impact audiences and keep them engaged by sending a stream of tweets – sometimes more than 50 at a time. By applying her colloquial style and often adding jokes, she has a knack for firing up her followers, outraging her detractors, and provoking extensive media coverage.
One such occasion was when, in 2013, several European countries refused to let Bolivian president Evo Morales’s plane enter their airspace over suspicions that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was onboard. Fernández’s post-midnight account of the phone conversations she held with regional leaders as they tried to handle the crisis was followed by millions of outraged Twitter users in South America, and the rest of the world. There was no need to talk to the press directly. Most media outlets in the region immediately picked up her tweets – which sounded dramatic, frantic and ripped from a spy novel – without her having to speak to a single reporter.
Her tweeting may make her seem more accessible, but, aside from very few occasions when she decided to address some praise or criticism that someone posted on her Facebook account, Fernández does not reply to what her constituents say to her online. Many reporters feel they have no choice but to reprint her tweets, and write articles that read like an official press release.
The media in Argentina is far from perfect. Big media groups, including Clarín and La Nación, regularly run headlines critical of the president on the front pages of their newspapers, many of them misleading, anecdotal or purely hyperbolic. This, in turn, has validated the president’s accusations against what she calls “the opposition press”. Now, whenever a media outlet presents a legitimate claim against the administration, many are prompted to question its veracity. And in turn, it serves as the perfect reason for the president to bypass the media to keep the message from being distorted.
As the use of the national broadcast increases and its content becomes more diverse, many not only consider its use unjustified but also a mockery of itself. Each time one is announced, people turn to their social network of choice to support her, criticise her, make fun of her and wonder what her next announcement will be about.
In the end, if Fernández is looking for people to pay attention to her message and discuss it around the water cooler, while it may not help her garner any additional supporters, her strategy is working.
The population is listening.
