When was the last time a major, Australian media company dared take on the Federal government over press freedom and advertising?
Perfil SA, Argentina’s second-largest media company, sued the country’s government, alleging it violated press freedoms by withholding advertising from media it considers critical, company president Jorge Fontevecchia said.
The lawsuit, which is the first by a media outlet against President Nestor Kirchner’s government, demands the government ends its policy of ‘discrimination’ against Perfil, Fontevecchia said.
“Those are pressures that seek to silence Perfil,” Fontevecchia told journalists in Buenos Aires. “That behaviour is not compatible with the constitutional right to free speech. We are trying to set a judicial precedent so as to prevent this behaviour from escalating.”