El Día (La Plata)
Encyclopedia
El Día is an Argentine daily newspaper published in the city of La Plata
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as the capital of the Province of Buenos Aires, four local intellectuals, Manuel Lainez, Arturo Ugalde, Martín Biedma and Julio Botet formed a partnership with the purpose of giving the new town (the first planned city in Argentina and South America) a daily newspaper. The hamlet depended on Buenos Aires
media and counted with only one local periodical: La Propaganda (a listing of classified ads). Their preparation led to the 2 March 1884, launch of El Día, whose first issue boasted 4 pages and cost 5 cents; 900 copies were circulated that day.
Published in a small building near the former freight railway depot
, the owners of the struggling daily persuaded a distinguished retired journalist, José María Mendía, to serve as its first director.
Soon earning renown for its timely coverage and for its outspoken editorials section on page 4, El Día was directed for most of the era between 1894 and 1952 by Hugo Stunz, who fended off periodic competition from the numerous upstart dailies which enjoyed a passing history in La Plata during the 20th century. The growing daily drew much of its new staff from the prestigious local University of La Plata and its related high-school, the Colegio Nacional. From the latter, El Dia hired David Kraiselburd
, who would become a prominent local lawyer, head of the university alumni federation, and journalist.
By 1961, Kraiselburd had become editor-in-chief, and, along with the Fascetto family (heirs of Stunz's daughter), bought an important share of El Dia. Inheriting a financially-strapped company, Kraiselburd's staunch opposition to the era's military coups, and innovations such as special sections, helped recover El Día, whose circulation soon averaged over 70,000.
Kraiselburd was murdered by the far-left Montoneros
in 1974, and El Día has since been directed by the late owner's son, Raúl Kraiselburd, who was also recognized as an advocate of free press. According to Columbia University's School of Journalism, which awarded both father and son the prestigious Moors Cabot Prize (in 1975, posthumously, to the former; in 2003 to the latter), the Kraiselburds maintained the independence of El Dia, which reported on disappearances and other issues that were covered up by most of the Argentine media during the Dirty War (1976–1983).
The 1980s and 1990s brought different challenges – the launching of other local newspapers, the worldwide spread of the internet, which had a detrimental effect on print papers – and El Dia therefore strengthened its local sections (sports, but also, remarkably, an important section that took the role of "ombudsman" of the county, where citizens could send their complaints) as well as its coverage of international news.
In the 2000s, El Dia strengthened its interactive relation with its readers via more online resources (there is a section called "Send Your Own News") and an online form to present complaints and comments to the "Advocate of the Neighbors" (Defensor de los Vecinos).
La Plata
La Plata is the capital city of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and of La Plata partido. According to the , the city proper has a population of 574,369 and its metropolitan area has 694,253 inhabitants....
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History
A year following the establishment of the city of La PlataLa Plata
La Plata is the capital city of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and of La Plata partido. According to the , the city proper has a population of 574,369 and its metropolitan area has 694,253 inhabitants....
as the capital of the Province of Buenos Aires, four local intellectuals, Manuel Lainez, Arturo Ugalde, Martín Biedma and Julio Botet formed a partnership with the purpose of giving the new town (the first planned city in Argentina and South America) a daily newspaper. The hamlet depended on Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
media and counted with only one local periodical: La Propaganda (a listing of classified ads). Their preparation led to the 2 March 1884, launch of El Día, whose first issue boasted 4 pages and cost 5 cents; 900 copies were circulated that day.
Published in a small building near the former freight railway depot
Rail transport in Argentina
The Argentine railway network comprised of track at the end of the Second World War and was, in its time, one of the most extensive and prosperous in South America. However, with the increase in highway construction, there followed a sharp decline in railway profitability, leading to the break-up...
, the owners of the struggling daily persuaded a distinguished retired journalist, José María Mendía, to serve as its first director.
Soon earning renown for its timely coverage and for its outspoken editorials section on page 4, El Día was directed for most of the era between 1894 and 1952 by Hugo Stunz, who fended off periodic competition from the numerous upstart dailies which enjoyed a passing history in La Plata during the 20th century. The growing daily drew much of its new staff from the prestigious local University of La Plata and its related high-school, the Colegio Nacional. From the latter, El Dia hired David Kraiselburd
David Kraiselburd
-Life and times:David Kraiselburd was born into a working-class Ukrainian Jewish family in Berisso, a suburb north of La Plata, Argentina, in 1912. In his teens, a high-school writing contest earned him an internship in La Plata's main daily, El Día, after the end of which he was hired by the paper...
, who would become a prominent local lawyer, head of the university alumni federation, and journalist.
By 1961, Kraiselburd had become editor-in-chief, and, along with the Fascetto family (heirs of Stunz's daughter), bought an important share of El Dia. Inheriting a financially-strapped company, Kraiselburd's staunch opposition to the era's military coups, and innovations such as special sections, helped recover El Día, whose circulation soon averaged over 70,000.
Kraiselburd was murdered by the far-left Montoneros
Montoneros
Montoneros was an Argentine Peronist urban guerrilla group, active during the 1960s and 1970s. The name is an allusion to 19th century Argentinian history. After Juan Perón's return from 18 years of exile and the 1973 Ezeiza massacre, which marked the definitive split between left and right-wing...
in 1974, and El Día has since been directed by the late owner's son, Raúl Kraiselburd, who was also recognized as an advocate of free press. According to Columbia University's School of Journalism, which awarded both father and son the prestigious Moors Cabot Prize (in 1975, posthumously, to the former; in 2003 to the latter), the Kraiselburds maintained the independence of El Dia, which reported on disappearances and other issues that were covered up by most of the Argentine media during the Dirty War (1976–1983).
The 1980s and 1990s brought different challenges – the launching of other local newspapers, the worldwide spread of the internet, which had a detrimental effect on print papers – and El Dia therefore strengthened its local sections (sports, but also, remarkably, an important section that took the role of "ombudsman" of the county, where citizens could send their complaints) as well as its coverage of international news.
In the 2000s, El Dia strengthened its interactive relation with its readers via more online resources (there is a section called "Send Your Own News") and an online form to present complaints and comments to the "Advocate of the Neighbors" (Defensor de los Vecinos).