La Relación Entre Los Militares Y Los Corresponsales Argentinos Autorizados a Informar Desde Las Islas Durante La Guerra De
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CUADERNOS.INFO Nº 40 ISSN 0719-3661 E-Version: ISSN 0719-367x http://www.cuadernos.info https://doi.org/10.7764/cdi.40.1054 Received: 10-18-2016 / Accepted: 04-26-2017 The relationship between the military and Argentine correspondents authorized to report from the islands during the Falklands War La relación entre los militares y los corresponsales argentinos autorizados a informar desde las islas durante la guerra de las Malvinas A relacao entre militares e correspondentes argentinos autorizados a cobrir in loco a Guerra das Malvinas EVA LAVÍN, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, España ([email protected]) JORGE GALLARDO-CAMACHO, Universidad Camilo José Cela, Madrid, España ([email protected]) ABSTRACT RESUMEN RESUMO The Falklands War marks a turning La guerra de las Malvinas marca un A Guerra das Malvinas marcou um ponto point in war journalism. The islands punto de inflexión en el periodismo de de inflexão no jornalismo de guerra. A location at 464 kilometers from the guerra. La localización de las islas a 464 localização das ilhas, a 464 km da costa Argentine coast and more than 12,700 kilómetros de las costas argentinas y a da Argentina e a mais de 12.700 quilô- kilometers from the British caused the más de 12.700 kilómetros de las británicas metros dos britânicos, permitiram aos military to exercise information censor- hizo que los militares ejercieran la censura militares censurar informações e liberar ship and allow access to a few corres- informativa y permitieran el acceso a unos o acesso a campo para poucos correspon- pondents. This paper uses a qualitative pocos corresponsales. El artículo recurre dentes. O artigo uti liza uma metodolo- methodology based on in-depth inter- a una metodología cualitativa basada gia qualitativa, base ada em entrevistas views to Argentine correspondents who en la entrevista en profundidad a los em profundidade com os correspon- covered the conflict to get a new vision corresponsales argentinos que cubrieron dentes argentinos que cobri ram o con- through unpublished testimonies. The el conflicto, en las que recoge testimonios flito. Concluiu-se que houve tenta tiva article concludes that there was a mani- inéditos. Se concluye que existió un intento de manipular as informações por parte pulative attempt, although it is clear there manipulador, aunque queda patente una dos militares, embora a falta de coorde- was an incoordination between the mili- descoordinación entre los mandos militares nação entre o comando militar eviden- tary controls regarding the censorship con respecto a los criterios censores. ciou uma falta de critério em relação aos criteria. temas censurados. Keywords: war correspondent, Palavras-chave: correspondentes de Falklands War, censorship, Palabras clave: corresponsales de guerra, Guerra das Malvinas, censura, photojournalism, Rattenbach report. guerra, guerra de las Malvinas, censura, fotojornalismo, Relatório Rattenbach. fotoperiodismo, informe Rattenbach. How to cite: Lavín, E. y Gallardo-Camacho, J. (2017). La relación entre los militares y los corresponsales argentinos autorizados a informar desde las islas durante la guerra de las Malvinas. Cuadernos.info, (40), 123-136. https://doi.org/10.7764/cdi.40.1054 123 LAVÍN, E. y GALLARDO-CAMACHO, J. The relationship between the military and Argentine correspondents INTRODUCTION media when, in January 1982, they started a campaign Military and journalists are two groups that histo- to recover the Falklands Islands (Pizarroso, 2005). On rically have always distrusted each other: the repor- April 2 of that year, the Argentine press announced ters because they do not believe that the information the landing of the national troops in the archipelago, that arrives to them is transparent and the military, and General Mario Benjamin Menéndez was appoin- because they consider that the press treats the subjects ted its military governor. That same day, the Secretary with superficiality and sometimes without knowledge of Public Information, Rodolfo Baltiérrez, summoned and, therefore, wrongly (Knightley, 2004; Pizarroso, the directors of the newspapers of national circulation 2005; Pizarroso, González & Sapaq, 2007). This com- and announced that all the information would be cen- plex relationship was already evident with one of the tralized in the Joint Staff (Escudero, 1996). The fai- earliest war correspondents, William Russell, when he led negotiations between Argentina and Great Britain covered the Crimean War. His first information was led to a war that had not been foreseen. On April 30, quite critical with the English army. He caused stupor the British fleet reached the South Atlantic, imposing in London when he spoke of the perfect organization a zone of total exclusion around the islands, which of the French against the poor English organization would give way to the bombings that began on May 1 (Braojos, De Pablo & García, 1999). These criticisms and would end on June 14 with the surrender of Argen- were not well accepted by the army, which decided not tina (Kaplan, 1984). to recognize the correspondent, whose coverage job Correspondents from around the world traveled to became difficult from that moment: he was denied food Argentina at the beginning of the conflict and tried to rations or assistance, and was harassed by the officers charter ships to get closer to the war zone, but they had (Greenslade, 2013). to give up when checking the exorbitant prices deman- This fact shows what the relations between the two ded by the ship-owners and, especially, when the Uni- groups have subsequently been, namely that the his- ted Kingdom warned that their forces would open fire tory of armed conflicts, especially since the twentieth on any ship entering the exclusion zone. This allowed century, cannot be understood without analyzing its the British government to have total control over the communicative aspects, considering that no one can information, managing to hide until the end of the deny the relationship between public opinion and a war some facts that, if known by the public opinion at war (Betancur, 2004; Pizarroso, 2008; Ramonet, 1997). that time, would have harmed them; among them, cer- And in that framework, the censorship is consubs- tain attacks suffered by their ships or the breakdown tantial to the war. It can be in the source itself, in the of the Invincible ship as soon as they left the port of control of the channels used by the reporter or in the Portsmouth. The Argentine government also exerted media themselves. Hence the relevance of analyzing great pressure over the media of its country, with the the case of the Falklands War, because from this con- “Guidelines to be considered for the fulfillment of the flict, according to Philip Knightley (2001), the theory Act of the Military Junta providing the control of the was developed that if the government confronts the information for reasons of security”, in which, among media and tells them they will not authorize them to other things, it forbade the subtraction of credibility or cover the war, journalists become so desperate that they contradiction of official information (Burkart, 2013). can even come to a deal: cover the war in exchange for Hence, the importance of speaking directly with the complying with Army rules. journalists who were there. The control of the media impressed the American THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK military and marked its relationship with journalists in The coup of March 24, 1972 and the 19 statement of successive conflicts. US captain Arthur A. Humphries the Military Junta –”anyone who by any means dissemi- wrote in the Naval Academy magazine in May 1983: nates, divulges or propagates news, releases or images “Controlled access to combat, invoking censorship, for the purpose of disrupting, or discredit the activity of and providing patriotic support at home and on the the Armed Forces will be repressed with imprisonment battlefield. Both Argentina and Great Britain showed of up to 10 years (Menajovsky, 2011)– influenced the us how to make wisdom prevail” (Shor 1998, p. 69). CUADERNOS.INFO Nº 40 / JUNE 2017 / ISSN 0719-3661 / E-Version: www.cuadernos.info / ISSN 0719-367x 124 LAVÍN, E. y GALLARDO-CAMACHO, J. The relationship between the military and Argentine correspondents An example of this was the operation of the inva- who then shared their information with the excluded sion of the Caribbean island of Granada in 1983, which to reconcile a dual objective: to ensure the safety of was conducted with total secrecy to avoid leaks to the journalists and to control information. This idea of sha- press and no one could report until the military gave ring military news by several newspapers had already informative access, 48 hours later, when the island emerged in the Franco-Prussian War, but there it did was under their control. Many journalists reported so at the initiative of the newspapers themselves, to that fellow aircraft fired their boats when they tried to maximize the work of the journalists sent to the front reach the island, so they had to stay in the Barbados (Bordería, Lagura & Martínez, 1998). Islands. Finally, after many pressures, the Americans This model was first tested in April 1985, but nine gave access to fifteen of the seven hundred reporters more tests were performed to exercise participants, present, but the elect refused to share their material, although the first major operation was in December so it was called “the uncovered invasion” (Knightley, 1989 with the invasion of Panama in the so-called 2004). The media, therefore, only had the information “Operation Just Cause.” Secretary of Defense Dick provided by the US Department of Defense, news that Cheney decided to use the pool model but only two many reporters questioned. Images of the conflict that hours before the start of the operation, so coverage reached American homes showed young American was delayed. Reporters embarked seven hours later students running to meet the military.