FOCUS ON THE AMERICAS - International Press Institute

South America
Ecuador
Since Rafael Correa became president
of Ecuador, there has been much debate
within Ecuadorean society about
whether or not threats to freedom of speech
and protests by citizens have increased.
In almost four years of leadership, Correa
has made drastic changes in the relationship
between the government, the political
opposition - including those who are critics
of the regime - and also the mass media.
The government, since its inception, has
shown that it wishes to keep a firm grip on
public opinion and the country’s social
communications, making sure that its own
version of the facts is given overriding exposure.
To accomplish that, it has executed
a strategy that combines three factors: the
creation of a large media power-base; the
pursuit of greater regulation of the mass
media sector; and the large-scale crackdown
on, and discrediting of, any actor, citizen,
or non-governmental journalist who
criticizes the government.
The government, once on the sidelines of
the mass media sector, has become the
biggest player in the media industry of
Ecuador and its largest advertiser. With a
million-[U.S.]dollar investment, the
regime created Ecuador TV, the newspaper
El Ciudadano, the popular journal PP
and the international news agency
ANDES. In addition, it strengthened the
existing state media, like the newspaper
El Telégrafo, and two radio stations: Radio
Nacional del Ecuador and Radio Casa de
la Cultura.
On July 8, 2008, Correa’s administration
took over 12 mass media companies that
belonged to the Isaias group, which owed
money to the state due to the bankruptcy
of its financial subsidiary, Filanbanco,
back in 1999. According to the law, the
regime was obliged to promptly sell the 12
media companies that belonged to the Isaias
group in order to give back the lost deposits
to former clients of Filanbanco
bank. However, it has been 29 months
since the start of the process, and no
progress has been made.
At the end of 2010, central government
controlled over 19 media companies. In the
case of the television channels, most had a
national reach and a very large viewer base.
The quest of the government to gain full
control of the media has prompted it to become,
since 2007, the biggest advertiser in
the country, with an average annual expenditure
of $15 million, including special
discounts for high advertising volume, according
to Infomedia. Not counting the discounts,
the real amount would have been
$40 million.
The Ethos Foundation revealed in a study
that the vice-presidency, the ministries
and state secretaries have spent $94 million
on publicity from 2007 to August
2010. In the period 2003 – 2006, only $1.4
million was used for official publicity.
Ethos points out that Ecuador spends
more on publicity per capita (GDP) than
any other country in South America -
even more than Venezuela or Argentina.
This reality, according to the freedom of
speech observatory Fundamedios, gives
the government overall control - both direct
and indirect - of the media sector in
the country: “The regime is the major
owner of media companies and, simultaneously,
is the biggest advertiser and
client of the private media.”
Another contentious point is
Article 19 of the Constitution,
which dictates that the State
“…will regulate…content with
informative, educative and
cultural purposes in the programming
of mass media”.
Right: Ecuador's President Rafael Correa speaks from
the balcony of the Carondolet Palace as hundreds of
supporters gathered to greet him in Quito, September
30, 2010. (REUTERS)
A second factor that has an influence on
Ecuador’s freedom of speech is the accelerated
legal reforms that the regime has
introduced to the communications sector.
In October 2008, Ecuador approved a new
constitution in which freedom of speech,
free access to information and freedom of
conscience were guaranteed. However,
some measures can be considered a danger.
The creation of the Social Communication
National System, which is due to
work alongside the state-formulated Communication
Public Policy, could have a
detrimental effect on freedom of speech.
Another contentious point is Article 19 of the
Constitution, which dictates that the State “…
will regulate … content with informative, educative
and cultural purposes in the programming
of mass media and will foment
the creation of spaces for the diffusion of national
independent productions”. Members
of the Journalist & Editors of Ecuador Association
believe that Article 19 allows the state
to directly intervene in editorial stances, and
to influence the focus of each media outlet,
thus threatening press freedom.
Article 312 of the Constitution excludes the
owners and shareholders of financial institutions
from the mass media sector. Article
17 claims that the state “won’t allow an oligopoly
or monopoly, direct or indirect, over
the property of mass media and the use of
frequencies”, despite the fact that central
government, as stated before, is the biggest
media player in the country.
Most of these articles, with the exception of
Article 312, are not being applied yet, due
to the lack of a communications law,
which, according to pro-government legislators,
will guarantee the fulfillment of the
new vision that the Constitution contains
of the mass media sector, as well as information
and social communication. The
creation and approval of the new communication
law has created an intense debate,
due to the fact that the bill, drafted by progovernment
congressmen, establishes
“state hegemony” over the sector, a trend
which is developing in many South American
countries. The bill is about to be debated
in Congress and includes some contentious
issues such as the creation of a
Communication Council which will regulate
the way public and private mass media
work. This includes the establishment of a
Mass Media Public Registry, where media
organizations must register and declare
their editorial stance and operational policies,
their social capital composition and
their code of ethics. It also obliges the mass
media to offer, free of charge, one hour of
their daily programming to educational topics
that are ‘of interest to the citizens’, according
to the State criteria. It will be mandatory
for the mass media to transmit presidential
cadenas, or official messages. It would include
sanctions of 1 per cent - 10 per cent of
media companies’ average revenues for the
last three months if they break the law, and
the obligation to reveal the origin of any
news or commentary which is not the direct
responsibility of the station.
In August 2010, the Special Commission of
Freedom of Expression of the Organization
of American States detected 13 shortcomings
in the bill. Due to the criticisms, the
law’s approval has been delayed for more
than 16 months.
By November 2010, Fundamedios
had recorded 145 acts of
aggression towards journalists.
In spite of the fact
that in Ecuador
the murder or
torture of political
opponents
and journalists is not common, in 2010 freedom
of expression saw a setback in comparison
to 2009, according to César Ricaurte,
Fundamedios executive director. The government
is implementing a new way of
dealing with its opponents, with increased
levels of intolerance, insults and harsh
media responses to critics. This policy of discrediting
its critics, which includes the use
of hundreds of national radio and television
cadenas, and the president’s speeches every
Saturday, has turned the Ecuadorian people
and the mass media, including interviewers
and journalists, into political targets.
One example in 2010 was when three people
were imprisoned, accused of insulting
the president in the street in various circumstances.
Pedro Almeida, Carlos Julio
Solano and Paul Mena were treated the
same way as five others who, in 2007, were
temporarily imprisoned for the same reason.
The climate of hostility towards media
outlets not under the government’s control,
and also towards the political opposition,
has reached new levels.
The government has not hesitated to mobilize
all its forces to divide the opposition,
using advertising, national cadenas, economic
resources, and laws and sanctions
against its critics. According to the foundations
Ethos and Fundamedios, Rafael Correa’s
government broadcast 233 national cadenas
via radio and television in 2009 and
150 from January-June 2010. "These cadenas
have been used to counter any comments
made by
anti-government
commentators.
We will end 2010
with a number of
national cadenas
much higher in
number than in 2009", says Fundamedios
Executive Director Ricaurte.
By November 2010, Fundamedios had
recorded 145 acts of aggression towards
journalists, whereas in 2009 this number
was 103. Of the total number of assaults, 45
per cent were allegedly at the hands of government
employees. "A great portion of the
attacks – 32 - took part during the revolts of
September 30, 2010 and came especially
from policemen," Ricaurte stated. Among
the journalists attacked were Hernán
Higuera from Ecuavisa, Ana Maria
62 IPI REVIEW
IPI REVIEW 63