Ecuador: Government power is taking over editorial lines and news content says newspaper editor

“Government power is taking over editorial lines and news content. I hope we’ll be able to take this one step back at some point in the future,” Luis Eduardo Vivanco concluded/
Judge Confirms US$3,500 Bill for La Hora’s No-Show at Mayoral Event
Judge stated: “Judge Román ruled that Supercom’s decision does not infringe the right to freedom of expression, and argued that journalists don’t have the right to choose what they write about.”

Rebeca Morla/Panampost.com reported Ecuadorian daily La Hora will have to pay a US$3,500 fine imposed by the Superintendency of Communications (SuperCom) for failing to cover a local mayor’s speech, after Judge William Román denied an appeal by the newspaper following a three-hour session on Friday.

On May 13, SuperCom sanctioned La Hora for not devoting column inches to an event held by the mayor of the city of Loja, Bolívar Castillo, in which he read out public accounts in a purported show of transparency. Castillo had filed a complaint stating that the paper “willfully” failed to write up the occasion. La Hora subsequently declared it would fight having to pay the fine.

Santiago Guarderas, defense lawyer for La Hora, explained that they had filed an appeal, describing the punishment as a “violation of the rights of legal certainty, due process, effective judicial protection, and freedom of speech.” Read Article

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