Telum Cable announces “closure of Telum public news agency”

between commercials open the general session In Congress, xavier miley he announced it Telam news agency will close, “It has been used as a Kirchnerist propaganda agency during the past decades,” the President argued in the middle of a section of his speech dedicated to measures taken and implemented to reduce public spending.

After that, Telem released a cable in which he highlighted the daily work done by its more than 700 employees, highlighted being “the only one in the country with a network of correspondents in all Argentine provinces” and reviewed its history. “It was created 78 years ago with the aim of disseminating information throughout the country on a federal and pluralistic basis,” he stressed.

Furthermore, he collected some criticism from politicians and press workers after the announcement.

Below is the complete Telum cable:

President Xavier Miley told the Legislative Assembly today that his administration is “going to close down” Telem, the public news agency created 78 years ago with the aim of disseminating information throughout the country on a federal and pluralistic basis.

As the only argument for announcing its closure, Miley explained that she believed the agency “has been used as a Kirchnerist propaganda agency in recent decades”, the former Secretary of Public Media , the same justification used by Hernan Lombardi, when 357 layoffs were ordered in 2018. At the agency, many of them were later overturned by the justices.

The agency turned 78 on April 14, when it received well wishes and congratulations for its performance for over a century from politicians, business, union, academic and human rights personalities of various ideologies, among others. A special and personal message from Pope Francis.

Tellum is the only agency in the country that has a network of correspondents in all Argentine provinces and has several cooperation agreements with international agencies that make it possible for various media, companies to produce and provide direct information on events happening in the world. Organization. And institutions.

It has more than 700 employees and has faced attempts at liquidation, closure, layoffs or downsizing in the past during the governments of Carlos Menem, Fernando de la Rúa and Mauricio Macri.

It broadcasts more than 500 cables daily with information from the entire country, at least 200 photographs and has video, radio, a news portal and social networks departments.

At its beginning, 78 years ago, the Tellum agency was created as a mixed company formed by private and state capital, with the aim of breaking the existing monopoly in information matters of two American agencies that monopolized the market: United Press International. and related press.

Its first director was journalist Jeronimo Jatronich and it began broadcasting information on October 12, 1945. Three years later, after signing the first contracts with journalists from the interior of the country, it became able to rely on a national coverage network, who began to send notes to the editorial office by telegram, telephone or teletype, the system Now completely overtaken by technological advancement.

“Telam does not stop. We are going to defend it, not only the workers of the agency but the entire Argentine people, with all state companies, public assets and the sovereignty of our country,” published the general secretary of the Argentine Workers Federation. Press, Carla Gaudensi barely finished Miley’s speech to Congress.

Academic and media expert Martin Becerra also warned that “Telem and Radio Nacional are the only media outlets with correspondents in all provinces of the country.”

From the left, Representative Miriam Bregman considered the announcement “another attack on workers.”

The content produced daily by the Telem news agency is vital to the flow of information, as it serves as the basis for information published by major media and also allows information to reach direct information to media outlets in every corner of the country. Is.

Its federal and pluralistic character allows it to give voice to areas that are often ignored by the mainstream media.