(PERIODISTAS/IFEX) – As of 15 October 2001, the National Lottery no longer advertises on the radio programme La Danza de la Fortuna (The Dance of Fortune). The programme, which is produced and hosted by Roberto González Rivero and broadcast on Radio Splendid, reports on the results of official wagers and games of chance. For the […]
(PERIODISTAS/IFEX) – As of 15 October 2001, the National Lottery no longer advertises on the radio programme La Danza de la Fortuna (The Dance of Fortune). The programme, which is produced and hosted by Roberto González Rivero and broadcast on Radio Splendid, reports on the results of official wagers and games of chance.
For the past twelve years, González Rivero had been the person on all of the government lottery’s advertisements and raffles. Recently, González Rivero had criticised Leandro Alciati on the air while commenting on the country’s political situation. Alciati is president of the lottery organisation and in charge of the allocation of advertising.
Alciati took on the post in August and had previously been in charge of Cordoba and Corrientes provincial lotteries, while current Minister of the Interior Ramon Mestre was provincial governor. Alciati denied any connection between González Rivero’s comments and the withdrawal of advertising. He assured that the measure was strictly due to a normal reduction in the end of year advertising allocation, in addition to an almost seventy-five per cent reduction in the National Lottery’s budget.
Alciati informed PERIODISTAS that with regard to Prode (a sports analysis predicting the outcomes of soccer games), the main source of advertising income for La Danza de la Fortuna, it was decided that between November and December advertising would be restricted to sports programmes, and as of February 2002, a new distribution will be decided upon depending on the availability of funds.
PERIODISTAS expressed its concern about the matter in a press release. “The association hopes that the withdrawal of advertising is strictly due to budgetary concerns, and does not imply a new and veiled act of censoring opinions and comments expressed in the media and critical of the current administration,” stated the organisation.
