Milei's government shuts down Argentina's state news agency Telam
President Javier Milei's government fenced off and shut down Telam, Argentina's state-owned news agency, calling it a public-relations operation for the prior Kirchnerist governments; unions and journalist groups called the closure one of the most serious blows to press freedom in decades of Argentine democracy.1
- Country
- Argentina (RSF 2026 rank: 98th of 180)
- Where
- AR
- Level of government
- National
- Tactics
- Funding and ownership pressure, Licensing and closure of outlets
- Stage
- Silence (see the ladder)
- Head of government at the time
- Javier Milei
- Issue of the day
- Milei had campaigned against what he called wasteful and politically one-sided state spending, and Telam, founded in 1945, had long been associated with the governments of the Kirchner political movement he defeated in the 2023 election.
- Outcome
- Sustained. Telam's original newsroom remained closed; the agency was later reorganized as a smaller state communications operation.
- Era
- The 2020s
What happened
On the night of March 3 into March 4, 2024, Milei's government fenced off Telam's Buenos Aires offices and blocked staff from entering, taking the agency's website offline and placing its roughly seven hundred employees on seven days of paid leave while the closure proceeded. Milei said it was wrong for a poor country's government to spend public money buying journalists' favor, calling Telam "a covert propaganda ministry" and "a Kirchnerist propaganda agency for the last decades." The Buenos Aires Press Union, SiPreBA, called the closure one of the worst actions against freedom of expression in forty years of Argentine democracy, and the Argentine Journalism Forum, Fopea, said the decision would deepen intolerance toward journalism. Workers and press-freedom advocates organized protests, including a symbolic gathering around the building, but the closure proceeded.1234
What reason was given
Milei said it was "immoral that in a poor country like ours, the government spends the people's money to buy the will of journalists," describing Telam as "a covert propaganda ministry."2
What changed for reporting
Argentina's national wire service, which many regional and local outlets relied on for national and international news feeds, stopped operating, and roughly seven hundred journalists and staff lost their positions.3
Timeline
2024
Who acted
| Name | Role in this incident | Office at the time |
|---|---|---|
| Javier Milei | ordered | President of Argentina |
Outlets and journalists
| Name | Kind | Relation |
|---|---|---|
| Telam | outlet | affected |
Sources
Claims cited
- Milei's government fenced off Telam's offices and took its site offline, with staff placed on paid leave.
It is immoral that in a poor country like ours, the government spends the people's money to buy the will of journalists.
Milei Closes Argentine State News Agency Telam for 'Spreading Propaganda', Reason, 2024-03-04. Claim 441, checked 2026-09-22. - Milei described Telam as "a covert propaganda ministry" and "a Kirchnerist propaganda agency."
a covert propaganda ministry
Milei Closes Argentine State News Agency Telam for 'Spreading Propaganda', Reason, 2024-03-04. Claim 442, checked 2026-09-22. - The Buenos Aires Press Union called the closure one of the worst actions against freedom of expression in decades of Argentine democracy.
one of the worst attacks on freedom of expression in the last 40 years of democracy.
Milei Closes Argentine State News Agency Telam for 'Spreading Propaganda', Reason, 2024-03-04. Claim 443, checked 2026-09-22. - The Argentine Journalism Forum said the decision would deepen intolerance toward journalism.
only exacerbate hostility and intolerance against journalism
Milei Closes Argentine State News Agency Telam for 'Spreading Propaganda', Reason, 2024-03-04. Claim 444, checked 2026-09-22.