Argentine court upholds delay to media giant break-up

Argentina's Supreme Court on Monday rejected a bid by the government to order the immediate break up of the media giant Grupo Clarin, which is accused of breaking an anti-monopoly law. Late last week, Clarin -- whose outlets have criticised President Cristina Kirchner -- obtained an injunction allowing it to delay a sale of its broadcast assets pending a decision on whether the 2009 law is constitutional. But Kirchner's government, seeking a speedier resolution of the stand-off, invoked a little-used legal prvision to urge the Supreme Court to "immediately suspend" and then "declare void" the lower court's ruling. This "extraordinary appeal" was "declared inadmissible" by the court. Kirchner's government says the goal of the 2009 law is to break up media monopolies, but Clarin sees it as an attack on the opposition press and on private property. Clarin, the country's largest daily newspaper and a broadcast and cable TV heavyweight, reported revenues of $2 billion in 2011. Since she took office in 2007, Kirchner has clashed frequently with Clarin, one of her administration's most dogged critics. Kirchner also earlier filed a complaint against the management of Clarin and another newspaper, La Nacion, over their purchase of a printing site that operated during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship.