BUENOS AIRES -- A controversial media reform bill, set to be debated in the Argentine Senate on Friday, pits two powerful forces against each other -- President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and the country's largest media conglomerate.

The outcome of the closely watched vote, which may not come until early Saturday, could have a major impact on press freedom -- and Fernández de Kirchner's political future, according to analysts.

``Argentina without doubt needs an updated media law in order to promote competition among the media,'' said Graciela Romer, a Buenos Aires political analyst. ``The widespread suspicion here is that this proposal is not a genuine effort to do that but rather an attempt to control Grupo Clarín.''

Clarín, a massive media empire that reaches almost all Argentines, has been embroiled in a feud with Fernández de Kirchner for over a year, dating back to a nationwide farmrevolt during which it was highly critical of her and husband Néstor Kirchner, whom she succeeded.

They blamed the criticism for their humiliating defeat in congressional elections in June, in which their party lost its congressional majority. Kirchner also lost a key legislative race in the province of Buenos Aires. Kirchner singled out Clarín at several campaign rallies, saying ``Clarín, what happened to you?'' Their supporters carried posters declaring ``Clarín lies.''

Pushing for the media reform bill, some analysts say, is the Kirchners way to seek revenge. Even a Kirchner sympathizer, an aide to a pro-Kirchner legislator who views the bill favorably, says that although the bill is a huge improvement, ``this is a war against Clarín.'' The source adds that Fernández de Kirchner ``needs a grand battle to recover political ground.''

A Clarín spokesman said that the company plans a legal challenge if the bill becomes law.

PROPOSAL'S OUTLINES

The 161-page proposal would attempt to break up media monopolies, reducing the number of broadcast licenses one company can hold and requiring that nonprofits, labor unions, and civil society groups be allocated a quota of broadcast licenses. It would also create a new regulatory group, larger than the current one person who controls licenses but still not independent of the executive branch, which has provoked criticism.

The House of Deputies approved the bill last month by a wide margin.

The Kirchners and their supporters contend that the proposal would further democratize the media here and empower the masses. They say that the bill is a necessary update of a law dating back to the country's military dictatorship.

The real owners of freedom of the press ``are each and every Argentine citizen,'' Fernández de Kirchner recently told reporters at the presidential palace.

She added that the proposal would allow for ``all to be heard -- those who we like and those who we do not like.''

Critics argue that the bill is another step in the Kirchners's ongoing accumulation of power, transferring it from the private sector to the state. Some have also suggested that Argentina is moving in the direction of Venezuela, where the media is under increased pressure.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez has been criticized for not renewing the license of RCTV in 2007. Since then, he has threatened to close or closed numerous radio and television stations, including more than 30 stations in August, according to news reports.

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