Argentina’s ‘Loony Radio’ making waves

[Judi Lynn]

Argentina’s ‘Loony Radio’ making waves

by Cesar Chelala

Special To The Japan Times

Aug 13, 2016

NEW YORK – Antonio Peralta, known to listeners as “exageradamente loco,” or “extremely crazy,” is a well-known radio personality in Argentina whose show is heard by 12 million people. But his studio is hardly conventional: He broadcasts from the courtyard of the largest psychiatric hospital in Buenos Aires.

Like Peralta, all of his on-air colleagues are patients at the hospital. They read news headlines and poems, sing tangos and conduct interviews inside and outside Dr. Jose T. Borda Hospital. Meanwhile Peralta, a tall man with long hair and a pleasant smile, concentrates on the legal rights of mental patients.

Their show is called “Radio La Colifata,” slang for “Loony Radio,” and the patients help produce the weekly show as part of their therapy. It is the first radio program in the world to broadcast from inside a psychiatric hospital, according to the Pan American Health Organization.

“Loony Radio” is one of Argentina’s most popular programs. Broadcast on 58 stations from cold Tierra del Fuego in the extreme south of the country to trendy Buenos Aires, the program reaches 12 million listeners who tune in looking for something out of the ordinary.


More:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2016/08/13/commentary/world-commentary/argentinas-loony-radio-making-waves/#.V6799ORTFOk

[forest444]

1. A testament to perseverance - & good policy (La Colifata was saved by Cristina Kirchner's Media Law)

After 20 years of meager budgets, boycotts from most corporate advertisers, and attempts by the Clarín Group to encroach on their frequency, La Colifata received funding from the Competitive Development Fund for Audiovisual Media (FOMECA) in 2013 which allowed them to buy new equipment and antennas, and well as cover overhead expenses.

The FOMECA fund was established by way of Cristina Kirchner's 2009 Media Law - the same law Clarín spent four years bribing judges to block, and which Macri rescinded by decree in January.

This decree was annulled by the courts just a week later, though Macri continues to ignore these rulings. But then, he was never very delicate when it came to opposition media. Here's how he dealt with La Colifata in 2013:

Thank you as always for your research, Judi.