Fundamedios, a press organization, accused the Ecuadorian government of waging a smear campaign against it and private media in the Andean country, according to a statement on its website.
According to the organization, the government interrupted a television broadcast on Oct. 10, with a message that Fundamedios and other private media in Ecuador were in violation of labor laws. "Not all the media are complying with the law and this is known by organizations such as Fundamedios, which call themselves defenders of journalists," part of the announcement read, according to the group.
The government intervention came one day after Fundamedios attended a hearing to appeal the Correa administration's ban on officials speaking to private "mercantilist" media.
The NGO reported that other radio broadcasts were similarly interrupted on Oct. 8 and Oct. 15, during its highest rated programs.
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.
