This year the journalist Hernan Panessi He dedicated himself to the digitization of television archives from different eras, specializing in programs from channels that transmitted pop culture and animation content in past decades. A “hunt” for audiovisual material, in VHS format, that the editor undertook with commitment and perseverance throughout the weeks.
Recently, the writer of “Argento Porn! History of national cinema Triple (Ed. Cuarto Guante) and “Pop journalism”(Ed. False Mustache) participated in the VHS Fest cycle, in the Noir Cinema and Movies space in Palermo, in which he screened some of those treasures from the small screen. Among the selection of material for the event, the cycle could be visualized “Tales of Terror” by Alberto Laiseca that the I-SAT signal emitted at midnight, among other curiosities.
On social networks, the dissemination of this nostalgic and generational meeting provoked a new investigative adventure in the journalist. A few days after the meeting, Panessi was contacted again by the Palermo stronghold. “The people at Noir tell me ‘look, they donated this material to us on VHS, maybe it will help you. There are a few boxes,'” he recalled, in dialogue with Noticias, and confirmed that he decided to bring those packages full of cassettes to his home for classification.
“In the boxes there were some repeated VHS: documentary works from the ESMA, Human Rights, the seventies, military dictatorship and so on. This repeated material was directed by Magdalena Ruiz Guiñazu. One tends to think that they must be copies of some producer or someone involved in the documentary,” Panessi said and detailed: “As I arranged, I found some appreciations of the material, which caught my attention because they were very professional notes and very specific observations.”
At that point, Panessi sensed that those old cassettes and notes had belonged to Ruiz Guiñazú, who must have had the habit of writing notes on various papers he had on hand. “I started looking for what Magdalena’s handwriting was like, to compare it with those texts that were there. I found that the letters were very similar and then I finished confirming it, when I saw some personal invitations to weddings and events, even letterheads with her name and so on. There I confirmed that those handwriting were hers,” he highlighted.
The anecdotal story did not end there, the investigation had to have closure. Panessi selected all the “inherited” material and decided to contact the family of the deceased journalist in 2022. “I gave the most sensitive material to her children, so they keep it,” he commented, while the rest of the audiovisual files will be digitized to be uploaded to the “FAN the program” channel on YouTube. “Coming across such an intimate kitchen at the work of a class A professional journalist moved me a lot,” acknowledged Hernán Panessi.
Without a doubt, Magdalena Ruiz Guiñazú was one of the most emblematic figures of Argentine journalismrecognized for her career in radio, television and the written press, as well as for her commitment to the ethical exercise of the profession. He stood out from a young age in editorial and studies, becoming a reference for social and political chronicle in media such as Radio Mitre, where he hosted his classic cycle “Magdalena Tempranísimo”. Her serious, thoughtful, and respected style made her a regular interlocutor for presidents, cultural figures, and opinion leaders for decades.
President Raúl Alfonsín summoned her to join the CONADEPthe organization that investigated the crimes of the last civil-military dictatorship and that prepared the historic report “Anymore”cornerstone of the Trial of the Juntas. Her participation represented an unusual commitment for a journalist, and her presence helped to socially legitimize the organization’s work thanks to her professional prestige.
He also won numerous awards throughout his career, including the Maria Moors Cabotawarded by Columbia University and received multiple Martín Fierro, Konex and distinctions from cultural and press institutions. It was, for decades, a symbol of the defense of freedom of expression and journalistic ethics. His voice became synonymous with serious journalism in a period of strong media transformation in Argentina. promoting social issues such as human rights, gender violence and educationwhich earned him recognition among colleagues and multiple professional distinctions.
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