With strong support for the logic of adjustment and fiscal austerity, Concordia Mayor Francisco Azcué decided to shut down Radio Ciudadana, the state-run media outlet that operated with municipal resources.
The measure, announced on July 24, represents a cut of 150 million pesos (330,693 pounds) annually from the local budget and is presented as a concrete political decision in line with the direction set by President Javier Milei.
The decision comes months after the existence of the station was publicly questioned. In January, an opinion article sparked debate about the purpose of maintaining a municipal radio station in one of the country's poorest cities. The focus of the discussion was not on who spoke into the microphone, but on why citizens should finance it, even if they did not listen to it.
A debate that transcended journalism
Concordia shut down its state radio and will save 0 million per year | La Derecha Diario
The closure of the station was promoted as part of a local government reform, under the principle that governments should not intervene in the production of media content. The arguments combine ethical, political, and economic reasons:
Structural inefficiency: precarious salaries, irregular contracts, and political favoritism.
Lack of neutrality: partisan use of a public media outlet funded by everyone.
Fiscal emergency: spending on state media is considered unjustifiable in times of crisis.
Concordia shut down its state radio and will save 0 million per year | La Derecha Diario
From theory to practice: austerity as public policy
According to Azcué, the closure of Radio Ciudadana responds to a logic of austere administration, focusing on recovering resources for essential state functions or easing the tax burden on those who work and produce.
This is a clear signal that the cultural battle of liberalism can be translated into concrete actions, replicating at the local level Milei's national policy: elimination of superfluous spending, closure of unnecessary state structures, and reduction of ideological subsidies.
A model that fades away
With this decision, Concordia takes a step toward dismantling the model where the state is confused with the party and public media operate as tools of power rather than information.
According to Cristian Nahuel Centurión, activist of Las Fuerzas del Cielo and one of the promoters of the measure, the closure of the radio station is not an attack on journalism, "but a measure of fiscal justice and respect for the taxpayer."
La Derecha Diario 
