Ernestina Herrera de Noble
Ernestina Herrera de Noble | |
---|---|
File:Ernestina Herrera de Noble.png Herrera de Noble in 1989 | |
Born | |
Nationality | Argentine |
Occupation | Grupo Clarín (Chairperson) |
Spouse | Roberto Noble (1967-69) |
Children | 2 |
Ernestina Herrera de Noble (born June 07, 1925) is a prominent Argentine publisher and executive. She is the largest shareholder of the Grupo Clarín media conglomerate and director of the flagship Clarín newspaper.
Life and times
Ernestina Laura Herrera was born in Argentina, in 1925. She became a Flamenco dancer and met Clarín publisher Roberto Noble, around 1950.[1] The two maintained a sporadic relationship until Noble and his wife, Guadalupe Zapata, were divorced in the early 1960s.[2] She and the publisher were married in 1967, and on January 12, 1969, he died of cancer.[1]
As his widow, she inherited a controlling stake in Clarín, Argentina's most-widely circulated newspaper since 1965.[3] Despite its large circulation, however, Clarín suffered financial difficulties when Mrs. Noble inherited the director's post. She turned to one of the late Roberto Noble's most prominent allies, economist and wholesaler Rogelio Frigerio, who lent Clarín US$10 million, in 1971. The paper continued to endorse Frigerio's centrist MID platform, which centered on government support for infrastructure investment and import substitution industrialization. On Frigerio's advice, Mrs. Noble brought in Héctor Magnetto, who took charge of the newspaper's finances.[3]
The periodical's finances were further bolstered early in Mrs. Noble's tenure by a 1977 partnership established with its main competitor, La Nación, and the Argentine State in "Papel Prensa, S.A." - the first and largest domestic newsprint manufacturer.[4] Under her leadership, Clarín extended its reach into Argentine media, purchasing two second-ranked outlets, Radio Mitre and Channel 13, in 1990, Multicanal Cable TV in 1992, and other stations and magazines. She extended the partnership with La Nación by leading Clarín into a joint wire service, Diarios y Noticias (DyN), in 1982, and into a holding company in 1997, Cimeco S.A., which obtained majority stakes in numerous regional newspapers (notably Los Andes of Mendoza and La Voz del Interior of Córdoba). Controlled by Mrs. Noble and the paper's longtime directors, Héctor Magnetto, José Antonio Aranda and Lucio Rafael Pagliaro, Grupo Clarín was established from these holdings in 1999 as the most important media conglomerate in Argentina.[3]
These successes were accompanied by numerous controversies surrounding her personally, however. She has maintained a long-standing probate dispute with Roberto Noble's only offspring, Guadalupe Noble, who was born in 1958 during his marriage to Guadalupe Zapata.[2] Mrs. Noble has settled part of the dispute with Guadalupe Noble, though the matter of the controlling stake in Grupo Clarín remains pending.[5]
Mrs. Noble was detained in December 2002 by order of Judge Roberto Marquevich following a lawsuit filed by the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo alleging that the two infants she adopted in 1976, Felipe and Marcela, should submit DNA samples on the possibility that their biological parents may have been abducted by the last dictatorship during their Dirty War against dissidents.[6][7] Her request to deny the samples was ruled in her favor in June 2008, though the case remains in litigation. [8] On October 17, 2009, President Cristina Kirchner proposed the compulsory submission of DNA samples in cases related to crimes against humanity, in a move lauded by the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, but excoriated by opposition figures as a political move against Mrs. Noble.[9]
Similar motives are alleged by the opposition against the president's Media Law, which would restrict the number of media licenses per proprietor and allocate a greater share of these to state and NGOs, thereby limiting the influence of the Clarín Group, with which Kirchnerism had recently had a souring of hitherto cordial relations.[10]
References
- ^ a b Rosa de Cobre: Uno, como tantos otros Template:Es
- ^ a b Noticias: Guadalupe Noble Template:Es
- ^ a b c Funding Universe: Grupo Clarín
- ^ Taringa: Papel Prensa y la libertad de expresión Template:Es
- ^ Pagina/12: El oro y el barro Template:Es
- ^ La Nación: Ernestina Herrera de Noble, detenida Template:Es
- ^ Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo Template:Es
- ^ Crítica: “No me sorprendió la decisión porque la Corte ya había fallado a favor de los apropiadores y del Grupo Clarín”, denunció Alcira Ríos, abogada de las familias querellantes Template:Es
- ^ El País Template:Es
- ^ BBC News en Español Template:Es