State Intervention and Market Structures: The New Overview of the Argentinian Audio-visual Sector

Abstract

Private, for-profit companies that feature concentrated property ownership and centralized production in large urban centers have traditionally dominated the media structure in Latin America. Much of its print and audiovisual content comes from the United States, rather than being domestically or locally generated. The size of the domestic markets and the low per-capita consumption of culture have created a profitable media model in which the state plays a major role. In a number of Latin American countries, governments have largely subsidized the privately owned media system, either directly or indirectly through state advertising. An unwritten arrangement takes place: in return, the media turn a blind eye to government excesses or abuses, in effect giving up their watchdog role.