Attacks on the Press in 2010 - Committee to Protect Journalists

<strong>Attacks</strong> on the Press in 2010Under a state of emergency, which the government had declared, thepresident and members of his administration are authorized to interruptprogramming in order to broadcast official messages. But the governmentaired no announcements, according to news reports and CPJ interviews.Instead, the decree cut off independent media coverage and replaced itwith government-approved information, thus depriving Ecuadorans ofdiverse news sources at a critical moment.Correa has made no secret of his contempt for much of the news media,calling critical journalists “ignorant,” “trash-talking,” and “liars.” Followingin the steps of Venezuela President Hugo Chávez, the Ecuadoran leaderhas made regular use of cadenas—nationwide addresses that pre-emptall broadcasts—to air his views. The administration went further in 2010,using the broadcast law that authorizes cadenas to interrupt independentnews shows and impose its views. Local press advocates said that the governmentwas misusing the broadcast law and coercing speech.On October 12, for example, the government ordered Quito-based Teleamazonasto interrupt its political news program, “Los Desayunos,” to airan official rebuttal to comments made on a previous show that suggestedthe ruling party’s congressmen were irrelevant. María Josefa Coronel, theshow’s host, had laughed at the remarks. The government notified Teleamazonas,a network known for its harsh opposition views, that it had to aira rebuttal on the show’s next edition, and an official from the president’scommunications office arrived at the station’s doorstep with an audiotape,Deputy News Director Carlos Jijón told CPJ. In the rebuttal, a malevoiceover disparaged Coronel and vilified the show’s panelists and guests,the Guayaquil-based daily El Universo reported. Former President LucioGutiérrez, leader of the political opposition, was among those guests.The government also forced Teleamazonas to air rebuttals on themorning news show “La Hora de Jorge Ortiz.” As in Coronel’s case, thetapes employed a male voiceover to criticize the host and challenge othercomments made during the program, the show’s anchor, Ortiz, told CPJ.In August, the frustrated journalist resigned from Teleamazonas, sayinghe didn’t want to stand in the way of the network’s pending sale, whichneeded government authorization.While other channels were also directed to air rebuttals, Teleamazonashas faced the most intense censorship. It was forced off the air for threedays in December 2009 after regulators found it had “incited public disorder”with a story about the potential repercussions of natural gas explorationoff southern Puná Island.The Teleamazonas sale, which was finalized in September, was promptedby relatively new legal requirements. Station owner Fidel Egas, who96