The president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, has announced that Congress will consider a new media regulation law that will help fight "ink assassins," as he refers to opposition journalists, and that will be the "best legacy" of his administration, reported Fundamedios.
Correa, whose relationship with the press is at the height of tension after the million-dollar lawsuits filed against journalists and a newspaper, gave some guidelines that he said the new law should include, such as "ultimate responsibility" of the media, explained the newspaper El Universo, whose management is cited in one of the president's lawsuits..
The president stressed the importance of the media taking responsibility for what is said or omitted in the news, according to El Ciudadano, the government-run digital newspaper.
The creation of a new communication law that would establish a council to regulate media content was approved in a referendum on May 7.
In an editorial, El Comercio warned that Correa's perspective of the media as adversaries could lead to a law guaranteeing the "subjugation of the enemy."
Correa said he hoped the new law would help improve journalists' working conditions and professionalize the media.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
