El Mercurio

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El Mercurio

Type Daily newspaper
Format Broadsheet
Owner Agustín Edwards Eastman
Editor Cristián Zegers Ariztía
Founded June 1, 1900
Political allegiance Conservative editorial opinion
Headquarters Avda. Santa María 5542
Santiago, Chile
Website: http://diario.elmercurio.com/

El Mercurio is a conservative Chilean newspaper with editions in Valparaíso and Santiago. It is considered the country's paper-of-record and its Valparaíso edition is the oldest daily in the Spanish language currently in circulation. El Mercurio is owned by El Mercurio S.A.P. (Sociedad Anónima Periodística, "Journalistic joint stock company"), which possesses a network of 19 regional dailies and 32 radio stations across the country. (See List of newspapers in Chile.)

Contents

[edit] History

The Valparaíso edition of El Mercurio was founded by Pedro Félix Vicuña — father of Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna — on September 12, 1827, and was later acquired by Agustín Edwards Ross in 1880. The Santiago edition was founded by Agustín Edwards Mac Clure, son of Edwards Ross, on June 1, 1900. In 1942 Edwards Mac Clure died and his son Agustín Edwards Budge took over as president. When Edwards Budge died in 1956, his son, Agustín Edwards Eastman, took control of the company.

[edit] Criticism

El Mercurio has been criticized for having received funds from the US government in the early 1970s to undermine the Socialist government of Salvador Allende through continuous anti-Allende propaganda and for "setting the stage for the military coup of 11 September 1973" (Kornbluh, 2003).

[edit] The Presidential Letter issue

The entrenched conservatism of the El Mercurio led to several much publicized stand-offs with former President of Chile Ricardo Lagos — the country's first Socialist president since the overthrow of Salvador Allende. On September 16, 2005 Lagos complained about the newspaper’s excessive zeal in trying to tie his family members to graft or special government largess in a scathing letter he wrote to Edwards, which was then printed in the Letters to the Editor section of the newspaper and published on September 21, 2005. President Lagos said, in part:

Unfortunately, when the history of these times is written, your newspaper will be shown to have showcased all the unfounded claims that were made against the president of Chile. I am profoundly sorry about this. I would have hoped for something better, given the knowledge that we both have of one another.
I have tried to do the very best for Chile, so that there is reconciliation and a renewal of confidence in one another. But because of the hate, the low blows, and the way your newspaper has permanently treated these subjects, I think your newspaper is far removed from what your grandfather would have wanted. Your newspaper has become the servant of a tribe of people in Chile: a tribe that wants to sow hate through the words written on your editorial page, a tribe that will strike out in any way possible.
Unfortunately, this ‘journalism’ is not good for Chile. But sometimes it seems that hate is more powerful, even if it hurts Chile.” (See a copy of the letter in PDF.)

Nevertheless, the letter from President Lagos received criticism by the Chilean National Journalism Association (Asociación Nacional de la Prensa, ANP). In a public statement, Juan Luis Sommers, president of the Association declared that:

There is a clear pressure by the highest authority of this country against a communication medium. Even worse, in modern democracies these pressures from the governments are not an accepted practice. This is something without precedent in Chile.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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