Argentina’s most famous journalist, died this Monday at the age of 64. Famous for the corruption scandals she uncovered, but also for her controversial and biting style, Lanata garnered a legion of unparalleled admirers and haters. Sick for a long time and having had a kidney transplant in 2015, Lanata died after a long stay in an Italian hospital from which he could not recover.
A great questioner and also histrionic and irreverent, Lanata triumphed both in graphic media, such as television, radio, magazine theater, multimedia platforms and as an author of non-fiction books. His interests were equally omnivorous and he could go from politics to culture and economics to commenting on the latest local showbiz romance.
He was born on September 12, 1960 in the coastal city of Mar del Plata, about 400 kilometers south of Buenos Aires. He began his journalistic career in the eighties, when .
Lanata was the face of the renewal of the graphic press in Argentina. He had a fleeting stint on Radio Nacional and the magazine The Porteño before founding the newspaper Page/12 in 1987, at only 26 years old, and two decades later, when the role was already in clear retreat, he repeated with Criticism of Argentina. The covers of Page 12 with Lanata were characterized by provocative and disruptive headlines, which made it stand out from the competition. One of the most memorable covers was the one that came out blank in October 1989. With that striking choice, the newspaper protested against the pardons to the leadership of the dictatorship granted by Carlos Menem.
Undisputed radio leader for years with his program Wool without filteron television he created programs that marked an era, such as Journalism for Everyone. From channel 13, Lanata obtained large audiences with her high-impact investigations. The most influential was the one that uncovered “the K money route” about the misappropriation of public funds during the governments of Néstor Kirchner and his widow and successor, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Each program was preceded by an initial monologue in stand-up format. “Entertaining is our professional obligation,” this showman with horn-rimmed glasses and a white beard liked to say.
The broadcasts of Periodismo Para Todos shook, outraged, moved—or all at once—the country every Sunday night. But they also led to more than one judicial complaint, such as that of the family of a poor eleven-year-old boy who was exposed before the cameras while the age of imputability in Argentina is 16 years.
The progressive ideas he professed in the eighties mutated over time. Since 2012, allied with the Grupo Clarín that he previously criticized, he became the Kirchners’ biggest media scourge. Flexible in the face of rapid changes in the media, he also defended its twists and contradictions and compared himself to Mr. Keuner, Bertolt Brecht’s character. Keuner is distressed when he meets a friend he hasn’t seen in a long time and tells him that he is the same. “Same as 30 years ago? “A disgrace.”
His tall and overflowing figure did not cover up the fragile health of this heavy smoker, who had had serious problems for more than a decade. In 2015 he received the first cross-kidney transplant in Latin America, which allowed him to stop depending on dialysis. For compatibility reasons, the transplant involved four people, including the driver’s then-wife, Sara Stewart Brown. In recent times, while the journalist was fighting for his life in intensive care, his family circle made headlines due to the conflict between his last wife, Elba Marcovecchio, and Lanata’s two daughters, Bárbara and Lola, the result of previous marriages.
An all-round journalist, Lanata stood out for his ability to open debates and interpret the complex Argentine society. His work and disruptive spirit leave an indelible mark.
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