Indigenous Peoples’ Right to Communication with Identity in Argentina, 2009–2017

• Published date: 01 May 2018
• Author: María Magdalena Doyle,Emilse Siares
• Date: 01 May 2018
• DOI: 10.1177/0094582X18766909
• Subject Matter: Articles

LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES, Issue 220, Vol. 45 No. 3, May 2018, 55–67

DOI: 10.1177/0094582X18766909

© 2018 Latin American Perspectives

55

Indigenous Peoples’ Right to Communication with Identity

in Argentina, 2009–2017

by

María Magdalena Doyle and Emilse Siares

Translated by

Mariana Ortega Breña

Argentine Law 26.522 on Audiovisual Communication Services recognized, among

other things, the right to communication for indigenous peoples. The cases of three indig-

enous radio stations in northern Argentina reveal the limits and possibilities of this nor-

mative transformation and the challenges to indigenous media posed by the changes in

communications policy since the 2015 change of government.

La ley argentina 26.522 de Servicios de Comunicación Audiovisual reconoció, entre

otras cuestiones, el derecho a la comunicación de los pueblos originarios. Los casos de tres

emisoras de radio indígenas en el norte de Argentina revelan los límites y posibilidades de

esta transformación normativa y los desafíos a los medios indígenas generados a partir de

los cambios en política de comunicaciones desde el cambio de gobierno de 2015.

Keywords: Indigenous peoples, Mass media of communication, Audiovisual

Communication Services Law, Right to communication

Public discussion regarding the drafting of Argentina’s Audiovisual

Communication Services Law began in March 2009. The law was intended to

replace the broadcasting law in effect since the last civilian/military dictator-

ship (1976–1982), and the discussion led to a debate regarding the media’s

social role, the state’s regulatory role in the field, and the meaning and author-

ity of rights to communication. As subjects claiming the right to communicate,

indigenous people positioned themselves differently from other actors (e.g.,

organizations that manage community stations) because of the specificities

with regard to their indigenous character and their involuntary inclusion in the

nation-state. This paper addresses the way in which indigenous proposals

influenced the Audiovisual Communication Services Law to recognize indig-

enous peoples as radio and television providers and the transformations that

led to the possibility of indigenous participation in the media system. We sug-

gest that an understanding of these complex processes requires inscribing them

within the Latin American context of indigenous struggles for communication

María Magdalena Doyle has a Ph.D. in anthropology from the Universidad de Buenos Aires and

is a researcher and professor at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Emilse Siares holds a

degree in communication sciences from the Universidad de Buenos Aires, where her thesis was

on indigenous media in northwestern Argentina. Mariana Ortega Breña is a freelance translator

based in Canberra, Australia.

766909LAPXXX10.1177/0094582X18766909Latin American PerspectivesDoyle and Siares / INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ COMMUNICATION RIGHTS IN ARGENTINA

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