Ecuador: Anti-Press Campaign by Former President Correa, caused lasting damage to journalism

John Otisanti-cpj.org – press campaign carried out by Moreno’s predecessor, former President Rafael Correa, has caused lasting damage to journalism in Ecuador.

Since taking office in May, Ecuadoran President Lenín Moreno has pledged to end a decade-long battle between the government and the media. But several reporters and editors with whom CPJ spoke said that the anti-press campaign carried out by Moreno’s predecessor, former President Rafael Correa, has caused lasting damage to journalism in Ecuador.

The left-wing Correa, who was first sworn-in as president in 2007, sued news outlets and journalists for defamation. On live TV he tore up newspapers and denounced independent reporters as corrupt hacks and shills for the political opposition. He also signed one of the most restrictive communications laws in the hemisphere, which led to widespread self-censorship, CPJ has found.

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“We had an authoritarian populist government for the past 10 years and that has caused immense damage,” César Ricaurte, director of Fundamedios, a Quito-based freedom of speech organization, told CPJ. “We now have a whole generation of journalists who think it’s OK for the government to tell them how to do their jobs.” Read Article