THE PRESS AS A SYMBOL AND PRACTICE OF FREEDOM. SOCIALIST PERSPECTIVES ON THE ROLE OF JOURNALISM IN THE 1930S

In Argentina in the 1930s, different voices contributed to a debate on the role of journalism and offered contrasting representations about the nature of this activity and its desirable relationships with the state and political and social actors. In this article, I address the leading role that Argentine socialism played in these debates, based on the analysis of its speeches and initiatives in the legislative and labor union fields. I argue that, by placing the defense of press freedom at the center of its discourse, Argentine socialism strengthened the liberal -democratic element of its political tradition and radically modified its traditional hypothesis regarding the role of journalism in democratic societies.