Argentina Declares Media Law Constitutional, Begins Process To Break Up Grupo Clarin

Argentina's government told the country's largest media conglomerate that it has begun a process to break up the company and auction off its media licenses.

Grupo Clarin has battled with President Cristina Fernandez for years. Fernandez argues that it is a corporate monopoly and has funded a network of pro-government newspapers and stations to challenge Clarin's dominance. Grupo Clarin has called Fernandez's bid to break it up an illegal attempt to silence one of the government's leading critics and to stifle press freedom. Martin Sabbatella, the head of the government media regulation body, said that the government will make the conglomerate and other companies comply with the law, which bars any company from owning too many different media properties.