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Chile: Journalists demand probe into concentrated Media sector

By  |  June 28, 2016

The Board of Directors of Chile’s College of Journalists (CPC) met last Thursday with National Economic Prosecutor Felipe Irarrázabal in order to request the his office, one half of Chile’s dual competition authority, to begin investigations leading towards an eventual report on a perceived rise in the concentration of Chile’s mass media sector.

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    Javiera Olivares, along with college Vice-presidents Patricio Martínez and Patricio Segura, presented their concerns over what they see as evidence of concentration, collusion and dwindling opportunities for free competition in the country’s media. The CPC president said that their organization will take all the necessary judicial or administrative actions required to create a report on the current state of concentration in the ownership of Chile’s media outlets. The problem, they claim, is worsened by the presence of both horizontal and vertical integration between Chile’s leading media groups.

    The journalists handed several documents to Irarrázabal, including various international studies and reports and the charges presented by the CPC before the OAS’ Interamerican Commission on Human Rights in 2015. “The situation is also worsened when, on top of everything, constitutional norms place no limits on the ownership of commercial media, while they do limit state and communal ownership.”

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