promote feelings of insecurity in the community. In a circular effect, these feelings of
insecurity then justified their use of force against ‘criminals.’
91
The major difference between the newspaper discourse of the “Dirty War” period
and the democratizing period is not how the official sources legitimize police violence or
how perpetrators are labeled. The difference lies in the fact that, during the
democratizing period, news reports criticize the police and offer accounts of police
violence that contradict the official story. While the highly censured newspapers of the
military regime paint a black and white picture of a “war” in which “heroic” security
agents protect “innocent citizens” by battling “dangerous subversives,” the newspapers of
the democratizing regime show the police as both heroes and perpetrators. Some articles
show the police defending the state and its citizens against crime; however, the majority
of the articles cast doubt on the effectiveness of the police, or show the police to be
criminals. Instead of showing a clear-cut picture of “us” versus “them,” the newspaper
articles and editorials of the democratizing period offer images from many contradictory
viewpoints that blur the lines between the hero and the perpetrator.
91
McSherry, J. Patricia. 1997. Incomplete Transition: Military Power and Democracy in
Argentina. New York: St. Martin’s Press. 187.
Convention