Uruguay has a national television station and a group of state-dependent radio stations, all part of the Ministry of Education and Culture, which runs them through the National Audiovisual Communication Service (SECAN). They include Channel 5 and Channel 8 on television and the four public radio channels. These outlets broadcast cultural, sport, news and information, educational and entertainment programs. State radio in Uruguay was established in 1929 by Law No, 8557 that set up the Official Service of Electrical Broadcasting (SODRE). Channel 5 of Public Television began its broadcast in 1963.
Media assets
Radio: Radio Uruguay, Radio Cultura, Radio Babel, Radio Clásica
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
The public television and radio broadcasters in Uruguay report to the Ministry of Education and Culture, specifically to an “executive department” in the ministry known as the National Audiovisual Communication Service (SECAN). Currently, SECAN is headed by the journalist Gerardo Sotelo who was directly appointed by the President of the country.
According to the law, the state media in Uruguay should be governed by a board consisting of three officials: one president, one vice-president and one member, all appointed by the government with the support of the Senate. This regulation, however, has not been put in practice due to various legal interpretations, and, in fact, the government directly appoints the Director of the public media who manages both the public radio and television operations. The change of government in Uruguay (from left to right) after the 2019 elections affected the public media coordinated by SECAN already in the first months of 2020. In February 2020, Luis Lacalle’s new government appointed Gerardo Sotelo as manager of SECAN through a presidential decree. A journalist with many years of experience, Sotelo has been politically engaged with various parties, the latest of which being the coalition that won the 2019 elections.
Source of funding and budget
Although state media in Uruguay may sell airtime and advertising, their funds come mostly from the state budget. In 2022, SECAN received a subsidy from the state budget of UYU 546.7m (US$ 12.3m), according to data from the government.
Editorial independence
Being under governmental control, Uruguay’s state media have no means to achieve independence and have been criticized as being editorially controlled by both left and right-wing governments. Sotelo, the current director of the state media, admitted that the long-term criticism of officialism in the state media coverage was right, but he promised to change it.
Although he reassured that the state media will be impartial and aim to serve the public interest, right after being appointed director in April 2020, Sotelo sent a note to his staff announcing them that any journalistic content that was intended to be disseminated would be revised, even before production, by an official who was to be appointed by Sotelo. He argued that this was necessary to ensure that principles of “impartiality” and “public interest” were respected. However, the note generated controversies, journalists cataloging it as censorship and arguing that it was not feasible for journalists to ask for authorization from the management for each interview or news report. Another controversial measure was the dismissal of almost 50 journalists from the Public Radio in November 2020, allegedly on the grounds that they had a small audience and that the institution needed restructuring.
There are programs on the state media that give space to members of the opposition, but these episodes are rare, the history of the public media in recent years being characterized by government editorial control.
Critical comments about the Uruguayan state media are generally rejected in a vehement manner by Sotelo, as it was this report from Deutsche Welle (DW) published in May 2021, which warned that freedom of the media in Uruguay was under threat. As more journalists from Uruguay (from other media as well) argued that the report was exaggerated, DW interviewed more sources and published a new report, which tempered the criticism.
Nevertheless, in spite of all attempts by the public media’s management to ensure more editorial independence, instances of criticism of the censorship at public service media in Uruguay have continued to appear.
According to Law No. 19307 of 2014 that regulates radio, television and other audiovisual communication services (known as the media law), the state radio and television outlets run by SECAN should ensure “editorial and programming independence” as well as “plurality and diversity of content, to engender a critical and creative public opinion.” The same law stipulates that any journalist in the country (including those working for the state media) has the right to exercise “conscientious objection” to orders from their superiors they do not agree with.
However, the examples presented above show that the public media in Uruguay are still editorially controlled by the government.
The media law establishes that there should be an Ombudsman at the state media in Uruguay, but there is no evidence that this function has been created.
August 2023