A Sick Country in Need of a Doctor: How the Argentinean Press Supported the Last Military Dictatorship. Issue 1 (2nd January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fernandez Roich, Cynthia
• Is Part Of: Journal of Iberian and Latin American research. Volume 22:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 45
• Page End: 60
• Publication Date: 2016-01-02
• Subjects: Discourse analysis -- medical metaphors -- media -- Papel Prensa -- Argentina; Civilization, Hispanic -- Periodicals; Language and culture -- Spanish-speaking countries -- Periodicals; Latin America -- Periodicals; Spain -- Periodicals; Portugal -- Periodicals; 909.097561
• DOI: 10.1080/13260219.2016.1200272
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1326-0219

Abstract

Abstract: This article analyses newspapers' discourse in supporting of the last Argentinean dictatorship (1976–1983). Despite an extensive body of knowledge devoted to study the last military intervention, most of the research focused on human rights violations that occurred in hidden concentration camps; little attention has been paid to the role of the press in supporting the armed forces in power. The most popular and top selling newspapers such as Clarín and La Nación not only were favoured with generous business deals by the military regimes, but also developed a particular narrative praising the armed forces. Using medical metaphors, binary opposites such as order and disorder and particular front page layouts, newspapers supported the idea of military rule as providing the only alternative to re-establish order for the common good in a country deeply affected by political violence. This article also analyses the fraudulent purchase of paper factory Papel Prensa S.A. made between the military junta and the three major newspapers Clarín, La Nación and La Razón . This article concludes that the mainstream Argentine press supported the 1976 coup d'état and built consensus around military leaders.