The scandal that is shaking Argentine journalism began to take shape at the headquarters of the Association of Argentine Television and Radio Journalists (APTRA), when in an internal assembly the partners decided to expel two of their best-known voices: Pilar Smith and Evelyn Von Brocke. The decision, which included a majority vote, had instant repercussions in the media community and opened a conflict that promises to extend beyond the union sphere.
What caught attention was the way Smith found out about his expulsion. Live during a broadcast with the LAM program, host Ángel de Brito informed the journalist of the decision of his own colleagues. Live, the Gossip host reacted with disbelief and anger: “For giving an opinion? For a Martín Fierro? I’m going to call my lawyer right now to take action on the matter… Do we live in a democracy or not?”
The unexpected live communication generated an image that quickly went viral, placing De Brito at the center of media coverage of the conflict. In fact, the television host informed Smith that she and Von Brocke have fifteen days to appeal the decision of the entity’s board of directors. “When critical opinion is punished, that is censorship… Expulsions must be officially communicated. Be serious,” wrote Pilar Smith on social networks.
The expulsion proposal was promoted by a significant part of APTRA members and was framed in a context of accumulated tensions. According to journalistic sources, the vote ended with 29 votes in favor of the expulsion and 12 against for both cases, in an assembly described as tense and with a strong exchange of opinions. The communicator Nancy Duré was identified as the one who proposed the displacement of the reporters at the entity’s meeting.
In the case of Pilar Smith, sources close to the meeting assure that “her departure was decided after her harsh public criticism of the organization of the Martín Fierro Latino 2025 in Miami”, criticism that many considered harmful to the entity led by Luis Ventura. The journalist had spoken openly about what she considered technical failures and lack of professionalism at the ceremony, comments that made her the subject of rejection among her colleagues.
For her part, Evelyn Von Brocke, expelled at the same time, denounced irregularities in the procedure. In his defense he assured that he was not allowed to adequately defend himself during the assembly and that his expulsion took place amid shouts and without due respect for the institution’s statute. “Today I have been censored… a private chat is private, period,” she said, while announcing that she would appeal the decision in the legal field.
The expulsion of both communicators from APTRA, then, is not an isolated event, but the epicenter of a larger debate on freedom of expression, union discipline and the role of criticism within a professional association. A crisis that, beyond the symbolic, was glimpsed from the moment Pilar Smith publicly stated her intention to preside over the entity a few months ago.
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