Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Jorge Lanata Jorge Lanata (born 12 September 1960) is an Argentine journalist and author. He founded the newspaper ''Página 12''. He hosts ''Lanata sin filtro'' on Radio Mitre and ''Periodismo para todos'' on El Trece. He writes a column in ''Clarín (Argent ...

Osvaldo Soriano Osvaldo Soriano (January 6, 1943 – January 29, 1997) was an Argentine journalist and writer.Osvaldo Soriano
at the

and Alberto Elizalde Leal. Since 2016 the newspaper is property of Grupo Octubre, a multimedia company created by Víctor Santa María, president of the

Justicialist Party The Justicialist Party ( es, Partido Justicialista, ; abbr. PJ) is a major political party in Argentina, and the largest branch within Peronism. Current president Alberto Fernández belongs to the Justicialist Party (and has, since 2021, served ...

in the Buenos Aires. His first president was businessman Fernando Sokolowicz, in 1994 '' Grupo Clarín'' supposedly owned a share; Lanata claimed in a 2007 interview that businessman Rudy Ulloa (a businessman close to former President

Néstor Kirchner Néstor Carlos Kirchner (; 25 February 195027 October 2010) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, Governor of Santa Cruz Province from 1991 to 2003, Secretary General of UNASUR and ...

) also owned a share. The publishers also distribute a supplement covering

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous ci ...

area news,
Rosario 12
', since 1991. According to in house surveys, 58% of the newspaper readership is between 18 and 52 years old and belong to the medium and medium high socio economic groups: AB and C1/C2

History

The name of the paper comes from the fact that its preliminary editions as it was being developed had 12 pages. The name had already been chosen, thus the publishers opted to reserve the twelfth page for reports or news stories of central importance. Another version holds that the paper was going to be called "Reporter" but when the owners went to register the name, they were told that the name was taken. They then decided to count the number of pages in order to choose a name. With a stark design, a daily circulation of 10,000 copies and a size of 16 pages that doubled within a few weeks, the paper was a sharp contrast with other Argentinian newspapers due to its progressive orientation, its in-depth articles (each one occupying more than a page on average) and rich analysis. Inspired by the French paper

Libération ''Libération'' (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Initially positioned on the far-left of France's ...

, its style contrasted with the conventional Argentine press, where a higher priority was placed on showcasing a wide variety of information as opposed to more probing reports. The editorial staff included journalists such as

Horacio Verbitsky Horacio Verbitsky (born February 11, 1942) is an Argentine investigative journalist and author with a history as a leftist guerrilla in the Montoneros. In the early 1990s, he reported on a series corruption scandals in the administration of Presi ...

, writers

Tomás Eloy Martínez Tomás Eloy Martínez (July 16, 1934January 31, 2010) was an Argentine journalist and writer. Life and work He was born on July 16, 1934 in San Miguel de Tucumán and is generally considered an influential and innovative figure in Latin America ...

,

Osvaldo Soriano Osvaldo Soriano (January 6, 1943 – January 29, 1997) was an Argentine journalist and writer.Osvaldo Soriano
at the

and José María Pasquini Durán,

Juan Gelman Juan Gelman (3 May 1930 – 14 January 2014) was an Argentine poet. He published more than twenty books of poetry between 1956 and his death in early 2014. He was a naturalized citizen of Mexico, country where he arrived as a political exile of th ...

,

Eduardo Galeano Eduardo Hughes Galeano (; 3 September 1940 – 13 April 2015) was a Uruguayan journalist, writer and novelist considered, among other things, "global soccer's pre-eminent man of letters" and "a literary giant of the Latin American left". Galean ...

,

Osvaldo Bayer Osvaldo Bayer (18 February 1927 – 24 December 2018) was an Argentine writer and journalist. He lived in Buenos Aires. In 1974, during the presidency of Isabel Perón, he went into exile, residing in Linz am Rhein, Germany, throughout the Natio ...

, Rodrigo Fresán,

Alan Pauls Alan Pauls (born 22 April 1959 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine writer, literary critic and screenwriter. An early essay he did on ''Betrayed by Rita Hayworth'' by Manuel Puig is said to show his interest in him as an "experimental writer." Althoug ...

,

Juan Forn Juan Forn (November 5, 1959 – June 20, 2021) was an Argentine writer, translator, and editor. He wrote four novels (''Corazones cautivos más arriba'', 1987, ''Frivolidad'', 1995, ''Puras mentiras'', and ''María Domecq'', 2007), a compilation ...

, Eduardo Berti, Ernesto Tenembaum, Homero Alsina Thevenet,

José Pablo Feinmann José Pablo Feinmann (29 March 1943 – 17 December 2021) was an Argentine philosopher, writer, playwright, and television host. He also penned several screenplays for domestic film production and international coproductions. Born to Abraham a ...

,

Juan Sasturain ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

Miguel Repiso (

Rep Rep, REP, or a variant may refer to: As a word * Rep (fabric), a ribbed woven fabric made from various materials * ''Rep'' (TV series), a 1982 British comedy series * '' The Rep'', an entertainment guide published by the ''Arizona Republic'' 1997 ...

) who since the release of first edition has been in charge of illustrating the back cover and various sections of the paper, have been regular contributors. The first manager was

Jorge Lanata Jorge Lanata (born 12 September 1960) is an Argentine journalist and author. He founded the newspaper ''Página 12''. He hosts ''Lanata sin filtro'' on Radio Mitre and ''Periodismo para todos'' on El Trece. He writes a column in ''Clarín (Argent ...

, later replaced by Ernesto Tiffenberg. The newspaper had a close relation with the governments of Néstor and

Cristina Kirchner Cristina is a female given name, and it is also a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Cristina (daughter of Edward the Exile), 11th-century English princess *Cristina (singer), Cristina Monet-Palaci (1956–2020), American s ...

, and received huge amounts of state advertising as a result. Cristina Kirchner made a speech during the 25th anniversary of the foundation of the newspaper in 2012, praising the editorial line, journalists and authorities. She said that "there is a true cultural battle. We'll keep fighting in all fields, and ''Página 12'' too. They will only defeat us when we cease to fight". She made reference to a

conspiracy theory A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

, frequent in the '' Relato K'', that considers that the Kirchners were attacked by a cabal of hegemonic groups.

Mauricio Macri Mauricio Macri (; born 8 February 1959) is an Argentine businessman and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. He has been the leader of the Republican Proposal (PRO) party since its founding in 2005. He previou ...

was elected president in 2015, ending the Kirchnerite regime, and the advertising scheme that benefited ''Página 12''. The newspaper had to seek private advertising as a result. The newspaper was also bought by Víctor Santa María, president of the

Justicialist Party The Justicialist Party ( es, Partido Justicialista, ; abbr. PJ) is a major political party in Argentina, and the largest branch within Peronism. Current president Alberto Fernández belongs to the Justicialist Party (and has, since 2021, served ...

in the

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

city, and president of the Suterh union. Santa María had used the union funding to start the "Octubre" group, which also includes the newspaper ''Diario Z'', the magazines ''Caras y Caretas'' and ''Planeta urbano'' and two radios.

Editorial stance

''Página 12'' is a

Kirchnerist Kirchnerism ( es, Kirchnerismo ) is an Argentine political movement based on populist ideals formed by the supporters of Néstor Kirchner and his wife Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who consecutively served as Presidents of Argentina. Althoug ...

newspaper. The owner Víctor Santa María considers that, although it is not a complete advocate of the Kirchners, the newspaper supports most of their policies. In turn, it was also against the policies of the president

Mauricio Macri Mauricio Macri (; born 8 February 1959) is an Argentine businessman and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. He has been the leader of the Republican Proposal (PRO) party since its founding in 2005. He previou ...

. Santa María considers that

media independence Media independence is the absence of external control and influence on an institution or individual working in the media. It is a measure of its capacity to "make decisions and act according to its own logic," and distinguishes independent media ...

and

journalistic objectivity Journalistic objectivity is a considerable notion within the discussion of journalistic professionalism. Journalistic objectivity may refer to fairness, disinterestedness, factuality, and nonpartisanship, but most often encompasses all of these ...

do not exist. It is one of the most popular newspapers in Argentina, being the fourth most visited portal in the news area. Since its founding, it was an alternative newspaper that sought to be

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

and analytical. It can be defined as a dissident and

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

newspaper. Beyond presenting the news, the objective of Page 12 was to know them in depth and analyze them. It has a very strong commitment to society and has revealed various scandals at the time. It has maintained a critical stance against the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

and

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

, which has resulted in the awarding of awards for his fight for the right of expression.

Controversies

When Julio Nudler, who was the head of the economic department of ''Página 12'', impeached the chief of the Kirchner cabinet with corruption allegations in 2004 the directorate of ''Página 12'' refused to publish an article of Nudler. Nudler accused Página 12 of censorship and the article was finally published, with an added note from his colleague

Horacio Verbitsky Horacio Verbitsky (born February 11, 1942) is an Argentine investigative journalist and author with a history as a leftist guerrilla in the Montoneros. In the early 1990s, he reported on a series corruption scandals in the administration of Presi ...

stating that some of the data in the article was wrong. The government of the Kirchners favored ''Página 12'' with a huge portion of the

advertising media selection Advertising media selection is the process of choosing the most efficient media for an advertising campaign. To evaluate media efficiency, planners consider a range of factors including: the required coverage and number of exposures in a target ...

. State advertising was destined to media politically aligned to the Kirchners, instead of to the most sold ones; this was used as a reward to such media for their political support. The Kirchner administration ceased to release full numbers of this operation in 2009. As of 2010, the partial numbers released revealed that ''Página 12'' received 33.9 million pesos, 26.5% of the total advertising. The media of Sergio Szpolski, also a vocal supporter to the Kirchners, got 21% of the total, and both of them combined received the 47.5% of all the advertising. In contrast, Clarín, the highest sold newspaper, only got 12.9 million, 10% of the total advertising.

Mauricio Macri Mauricio Macri (; born 8 February 1959) is an Argentine businessman and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. He has been the leader of the Republican Proposal (PRO) party since its founding in 2005. He previou ...

was elected president in 2015, and redefined the advertising scheme. ''Página 12'' received 3.2 million in 2017 under the new scheme. Víctor Santa María considers that this is a campaign of defamation by a cabal of hegemonic groups, and that the

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic News media, media, especially publication, published materials, should be conside ...

is in danger. He was supported by a number of former populist Latin American presidents, who wrote a manifesto against the perceived censorship against ''Página 12''. In 2009, ''Página 12'' stridently defended a group of anarchists who attacked marchers in a parade in Buenos Aires celebrating Israel's Independence Day, claiming that the anarchists were innocent and had themselves been attacked by a "secret group speaking Hebrew"; Osvaldo Bayer and other intellectuals wrote an open letter in the paper calling on Israel's Ambassador to Argentina to drop the charges against the anarchists in the name of world peace, which made no sense because the charges were filed by the local Argentine government and the Israeli Ambassador wasn't involved in any of the events related to it. Several of the anarchists ended up being convicted of assault and disorderly conduct and served prison terms. When Jorge Bergoglio was elected as

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

, ''Página 12'' published renewed allegations about his actions during the

Dirty War The Dirty War ( es, Guerra sucia) is the name used by the military junta or civic-military dictatorship of Argentina ( es, dictadura cívico-militar de Argentina, links=no) for the period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983 a ...

. However, due to the Pope's popularity in Argentina, Cristina Kirchner made what the political analyst Claudio Fantini called a " Copernican shift" in her relations with him and fully embraced the Francis phenomenon. ''Página 12'' then removed their controversial articles about Bergoglio, written by

Horacio Verbitsky Horacio Verbitsky (born February 11, 1942) is an Argentine investigative journalist and author with a history as a leftist guerrilla in the Montoneros. In the early 1990s, he reported on a series corruption scandals in the administration of Presi ...

, from their web page, as a result of this change. A 2012 comic strip titled "An Adventure of David Gueto" featured a parody of a DJ, asking the prisoners of a

Nazi concentration camp From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...

to dance, and a caricature of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

approved the idea, adding that "if they are relaxed, you get a better soap". Sergio Widder, director for Latin America office of the

Simon Wiesenthal Center The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is a Jewish human rights organization established in 1977 by Rabbi Marvin Hier. The center is known for Holocaust research and remembrance, hunting Nazi war criminals, combating anti-Semitism, tolerance educat ...

, said: "This so-called parody is beyond offensive. As a newspaper that has been a champion for human rights and fight against racism since its foundation, we expect the editors of ''Página 12'' to immediately and publicly apologize for this distortion of history. ''Página 12'' 'Young Culture' section would better serve its youthful readers by teaching them the importance of preserving the memory of the Nazi genocide through remembrance, education and prevention of human rights violations". The newspaper issued an apology afterwards. In July 2017,

Aerolíneas Argentinas Aerolíneas Argentinas, formally Aerolíneas Argentinas S.A., is Argentina's largest airline and the country flag carrier. The airline was created in 1949 from the merger of four companies and started operations in . A consortium led by Iberia ...

ceased distribution of the ''Página 12'' newspapers on their planes. They argued that the newspaper had a debt on the payment for this distribution since the previous year. ADEPA voiced their concern, and asked both parts to find a satisfactory solution. The newspaper was critical of President Mauricio Macri. Kirchnerism returned to power in 2019, with the election of

Alberto Fernández Alberto Ángel Fernández (; born 2 April 1959) is an Argentine politician, lawyer and professor, serving as president of Argentina since 2019. Born in Buenos Aires, Fernández attended the University of Buenos Aires, where he earned his law ...

. A common Kirchnerite explanation for the ongoing crisis is that the IMF loan received during the 2018 Argentine monetary crisis was used to finance an illegal

capital flight Capital flight, in economics, occurs when assets or money rapidly flow out of a country, due to an event of economic consequence or as the result of a political event such as regime change or economic globalization. Such events could be an increas ...

performed by friends of Mauricio Macri. Verbitsky wrote a report in 2020 to support it, detailing the Argentine people that bought the most US dollars during the presidency of Mauricio Macri. Journalist Carlos Pagni dismissed the report, pointing that it confuses legal and illegal capital flight, and that most acquisitions of dollars listed in it were completely legal. He also noted that former president Cristina Kirchner was absent from the list, although she detailed a large bought in her autobiography ''

Sinceramente is the first book written by Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, former President of Argentina and former Vice President. She announced the publication of the book by surprise on April 23, 2019 on her Twitter account. Fernández de Kirchner state ...

'', that would place her at the 91º position.

Awards

In 2007, Casa América Catalunya, directed by the governments of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

,

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and

Catalunya Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the northe ...

, gave ''Página 12'' his annual prize for Freedom of expression for its "rigor and professionalism". placed at the service of justice and

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

" through hands of Spaniard musician

Joan Manuel Serrat Joan Manuel Serrat i Teresa (; born 27 December 1943) is a Spanish musician, singer and composer. He is considered one of the most important figures of modern, popular music in both the Spanish and Catalan languages. Serrat's lyrical style h ...

who said: "I think we are in this situation that often occurs in which those of us who participate knows perfectly what is happening, which is so important that it fills us with pride and is part of our memory, but outsiders don't really know. We must transmit this to others, transmitting what is ''Página 12'', what these journalists of Argentina have done, those who made ''Página 12'' possible and made other newspapers and publications possible, sometimes at risk of his own life"

References

External links

Online edition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pagina 12 1987 establishments in Argentina Daily newspapers published in Argentina Spanish-language newspapers Newspapers established in 1987 Mass media in Buenos Aires Argentine news websites