Weekly Report - 20 February 2014 (WR-14-07)

Grupo Clarín, the most influential media organisation in Argentina, is to split into six separate businesses in order to comply with the 2009 media law. On 17 February, Martín Sabatella, the head of Argentina’s media regulator, Autoridad Federal de Servicios de Comunicación Audiovisual (AFSCA), approved the plan drawn up by the company to prevent a forced dismantling. Throughout its four-year battle with the government that ended up in the supreme court, Grupo Clarín has argued that the law was drafted in retaliation for critical coverage of the administration of President Cristina Fernández. Grupo Clarín owns the country’s top-selling daily newspaper and offers cable TV and Internet to more than 1m homes and businesses in 10 provinces.