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Of the 19,160 news reports broadcast by the five free-to-air television channels in Buenos Aires, only 39 addressed the LGBTI community. This represents 0.2 percent of all news reports. While this figure is higher than in previous years, “the percentage remains minimal, demonstrating that these issues are still not on the news agenda,” Lucía Ariza, co-coordinator of the News Monitoring Program at the Buenos Aires Ombudsman's Office, which was launched yesterday, told Presentes.

The monitoring has been conducted since 2013, and this 2017 report is the fifth. It analyzes the news programs of the five broadcast channels in the City of Buenos Aires: América, Canal 9, Canal 13, TV Pública, and Telefé. Four time slots are selected during the first week of even-numbered months each year.

Violence and access to rights

While the amount of news did not increase, there was a notable change: reports of violence against the LGBTI community and access to rights were much more present than in previous years .

One of the news stories that received the most coverage was the beating of Jonathan, the young rugby player attacked by a gang at a fast-food restaurant in Villa Crespo . Headlines included “He was beaten for being gay,” “Homophobic attack: young man assaulted by gang,” and “Beat for being gay.”

There was also the case of police lesbophobia against Mariana Gómez, who was assaulted and arrested for kissing her girlfriend at Constitución station . In this case, the condemnation was not unanimous.

“In general, the coverage was responsible and focused on human rights. Although some channels also featured commentary from anchors questioning whether the detention was truly discriminatory,” the report states. However, it also highlights that this “debate” did not prevent discussions about the need for law enforcement to avoid discriminatory detentions, as well as the abusive (“reprehensible”) nature of a 12-hour detention. It was also mentioned that one of the detained women was repeatedly called “kid,” and reference was made to the call for a “kiss-in.”

Among its conclusions, the report highlights that "the visibility of different forms of violence towards groups defined by their gender identity is consistent with the policing matrix of the monitored news programs."

Few LGBTI news stories, but better handled

The third most important news story was about Leandra, the first transgender graduate of the Carlos Pellegrini school in Buenos Aires . “This story also had a rights-based approach, featuring the student’s testimony and her transition story, focusing on the desire and right to construct her identity, while also providing definitions of gender, emphasizing its nature as a process and the social norms of sex and gender,” the report details.

[READ MORE] She fought for her license and created a national network of trans teachers]

The approach to the story of Quimey Ramos, the trans teacher . “While the report sought to inform respectfully about gender transition and highlight the rights of individuals to construct their identity based on self-perception rather than biological sex, it used an inappropriate title: 'The teacher who chose to be a woman,'” the report notes. It adds: “Another piece of information that failed to provide relevant data was the name of who she was before her transition, something that could lead to discrimination.”

[READ MORE ]  Television and trans identity: the five forms of violence we see every day

The topic of trans inclusion was also in the news: highlights included an interview with Daniela Castro, a trans woman and pre-candidate for senator; and another concerning the trans quota in the municipality of Venado Tuerto, Santa Fe province .

Other LGBT agenda topics that were on the news: the call for Higui's freedom, the story of host and actress Flor de la V about when she was arrested, and a comment from host Georgina Barbarrosa who declared that she hoped to have a gay son.

[The transgender employment quota incorporated the first transgender worker in the country in Venado Tuerto]

International news

Among the 39 news items, six were international. Three of them implicitly addressed sexual dissidence and the rights of LGBTI people: two related to the legalization of same-sex marriage, in Germany and Australia; and the third about the demands of transgender military personnel in the United States to President Donald Trump.

The other three were addressed either from a spectacle perspective, such as the sexual abuse allegations against Kevin Spacey and his departure from the series "House of Cards" and "Love in the Lazio locker room," about a rumor of romance between players; or from an anecdotal perspective without delving into rights, such as the news that the Pope had written a letter to a homosexual couple.

Five years of monitoring

News about sexual and gender diversity falls under the "gender" category. This category encompasses all news about women, sexual and gender diversity, and the LGBT community, including rights and cases of violence against these groups. "Over the years, we've seen that the vast majority of gender news stories refer to women's rights, and especially violence against women. The increased visibility of violence against cisgender heterosexual women is not accompanied by a corresponding increase in the visibility of violence against other groups defined by their rights and gender identity, such as the LGBT community," explains Ariza.

This changed somewhat in 2017 following the aforementioned cases of violence and discrimination against Johnatan and Mariana Gómez. Although these are only two cases and not a diverse range of reports on the different forms of violence perpetrated against the LGBT community, which are documented by other organizations or associations, “the focus of most of these news reports is noteworthy, as they adopted a rights-based perspective, alluding to current regulations, discrimination, and respect for diversity,” the monitoring report states.

There has also been a noticeable decrease in news reports that misuse articles to refer to transgender people, as well as in reports that mention the former name of a person who identifies with a gender identity different from that corresponding to their biological sex. “In cases where such misuse occurred, it seems to stem more from a lack of understanding than from an attempt to exploit sensationalism and morbid curiosity as a news tactic.”

Finally, Ariza concludes: “It is impossible to know if any of the changes reported here constitute trends, or mere passing modifications of the LGBT agenda of the monitored news programs.”