Nación, La (Buenos Aires)

Throughout the twentieth century, the Buenos Aires morning paper La Nación (Buenos Aires) has played a major role in the political, social, and cultural world of Argentina. It has had a wide circulation and has presented itself as a serious paper expressing the ideas of the economic and social elite. Although not without major inconsistencies, it has supported politics that can be best labeled conservative. Its cultural and social pages have carried tremendous weight.

The politician, historian, and general Bartolomé Mitre founded La Nación in 1870 to support his political ambitions. In 1909, upon the death of Bartolomé's son Luis, the heirs transformed the paper into a representative of elite classes. The Mitre family still controls the paper and continues to play an active role. By 1922 La Nación had the second-largest circulation—almost 200,000—of any newspaper in Argentina. It did not shrink from criticizing governments, either that of Hipólito Irigoyen (1916–1922, 1928–1930) or the Neo-Conservatives of the 1930s, but its attacks on the Peronist government (1946–1955) were muted after the seizure by the regime of its great rival, La Prensa, in 1951. In the long run, La Nación was able to capture many of its rival's readers and become the example of an elite-oriented, serious paper.

During the military regime of the 1970s, La Nación became, along with two other papers, partners with the government in a company that produced newsprint. Many felt that the papers' independence had been compromised. In the early twenty-first century La Nación remains a strong voice and is one of three national papers.

See alsoJournalism; Mitre, Bartolomé.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sidicaro, Ricardo. La política mirada desde arriba: Las ideas del diario La Nación, 1909–1989. Buenos Aires: Editorial Sudamericana, 1993.

                                               Joel Horowitz