Last month marked the 20th anniversary for Cootrasuma Comunicación, an Argentine co-op in the city of Alta Gracia and the Paravachasca Valley which manages Siempre Radio 93 3 FM and the Sumario Noticias website. We speak to the co-op’s founder and president, Jorge A Conalbi Anzorena, to find out more about its role in the country’s media landscape.
How and why was Cootrasuma Comunicación formed? Why did you choose the co-operative model? Were you involved from the beginning?
Cootrasuma Comunicación was established on 10 April 2015, based on the newspaper Sumario, which I had founded in March 1997, and Siempre Radio, which I had launched in 2009.
Although I was the owner of the company, I always promoted a kind of “primitive co-operativism.” I applied economic and task distribution criteria that could be considered typical of the functioning of a co-operative, although they could not be excluded from the employer-employee relationship that had given rise to the newspaper. In reality, I knew about the co-operative model, but I had no familiarity with it at all, nor was I interested in it. I viewed co-operativism as something almost religious.
Out of ideological conviction and activism in the Córdoba Press Union (Cispren), where I had been press secretary between 1995 and 1997, I sought to establish equal relations among the members of my company.
In 2008, a colleague and friend who worked at a co-operative newspaper invited me to join a kind of federation of newspapers and periodicals (SMEs and co-operatives) so that we could fight together for the sectoral needs of small print media in Argentina, especially within the country.
There, I began to learn how co-operatives work and decided to transform the venture I had founded into a co-operative.
It wasn’t easy. There were many conversations with the workers, and we finally made progress. At first, it was difficult to change internal behaviour, but as new members joined, the operating dynamics were refined.
What types of products and services do you offer?
We manage an online news portal, diariosumario.com.ar, and Siempre Radio 93 3 FM. Our main activity is journalism. We also provide institutional communication services, social media management, and audiovisual productions. We publish graphic materials, such as thematic agendas.
What advantages does the co-operative model offer? And what challenges does it face?
Cootrasuma Comunicación is a worker co-operative, with 15 members. The co-operative model allowed us to develop democratic management in strategic and tactical planning, while also providing top-down decision-making. This operating model fosters both commitment to work—because everyone has participated in shaping the course – and efficiency in execution. Every six months, an assembly evaluates the progress of management and the achievement of the stated objectives.
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Furthermore, the co-operative model allows for more flexible working relationships among members. This is very important when income is insufficient, and workers who may need to find other work can swap their schedules at the co-operative with other members or work fewer hours without having to resign from the co-operative.
Until December 2023, co-operatives in Argentina had access to public financing and training programmes that do not exist for small capitalist businesses (they only exist for medium- and large-sized enterprises).
How do you see the role of co-ops in the communications sector?
Regarding institutional communications, co-operatives can be highly efficient and competitive. However, with the exception of large urban centres, they are unviable for journalism.
This isn’t a problem exclusive to co-operatives dedicated to journalism, but rather to the sector itself. In the last 15 or 20 years, globalised multinational digital companies have accounted for the majority of advertising revenue worldwide, even surpassing television.
In the new business model, news portals began to segment audiences, creating their own audiences, taking into account people’s identification with or preference for certain content. This is how payment for access to news content emerged on portals, replacing advertising revenue with revenue from subscriptions or memberships. This business model could also face a crisis in the coming years, but for now it seems to be working.
The strength of regional media lies in publishing content from their small communities, which is obviously not published by media outlets in large urban centres. However, advertising in regional media has been sharply declining.
The commercial activity in these places increasingly meets their advertising needs using social media, and even if people in a small town choose to pay to access local journalistic content, demographics make this business model unviable.
There are few people, and therefore, insufficient contributions to sustain a media outlet. That’s why I believe the subscription or membership model can only work in large urban centers or, as is evident, globally.
First, print media lost copy sales. And for a few years now – especially since the 2019 Coronavirus pandemic – they began to lose advertising revenue. Hence, regional media outlets are currently completely dependent on official advertising (from states or governments). This undermines journalism.
In our case, we decided a long time ago to develop parallel activities – which have nothing to do with journalism – to sustain journalism. We don’t always succeed, but it’s a goal. The co-operative model allows us to move forward more effectively on this path, from democratic participation in establishing our editorial policy to securing resources.
What are your plans for this year, the International Year of Cooperatives, and for the future?
We plan to strengthen the development of peripheral products that will finance the main activity (journalism).
Regarding the International Year of Cooperatives, it is a United Nations declaration of enormous importance to the movement.
However – at least in Argentina –it is an issue within the superstructure of our movement. It is present in the confederations and some federations, but it is completely unknown to the nearly 300,000 workers associated with grassroots co-operatives. The same is true for the two million people who receive electricity services generated by co-operatives.
This year, we will try to disseminate and strengthen the significance of the International Year of Cooperatives, with the intention of helping to strengthen our grassroots co-operatives.
