In imminent danger of being shut down by the Ecuadoran government, one of the only voices monitoring freedom of expression and the state of journalism in that country vows to keep working.
Ecuadoran journalist Martín Pallares said that for some time, executives at the daily newspaper El Comercio had been nervous about comments he made through his personal Twitter account. Yet, he never thought the situation would end with his dismissal. That day came on August 17.
Update (August 24, 2015): From the Quito International Airport on August 21, Brazilian journalist Manuela Picq announced she had decided to leave Ecuador due to the "legal limbo" in which she found herself after the Ecuadoran courts failed to reactivate her visa, reported newspaper El Universo.
The free flow of information regarding an active volcano currently erupting about 30 miles south of Quito, Ecuador may be threatened now that President Rafael Correa has declared a state of emergency in that country.
A government agency in Ecuador that regulates media content, dictates headlines and corrections that news organizations are forced to publish and doles out fines to those who dare to disobey has just celebrated its second anniversary and announced changes in the country’s controversial communications law.
In the latest development of the ongoing fight between Ecuador’s media regulatory agency and newspaper El Universo, the news organization has been fined an amount equal to US$ 350,000 for alleged noncompliance with government orders.
In the latest development of the ongoing fight between Ecuador’s media regulatory agency and newspaper El Universo, the news organization has been fined an amount equal to 10 percent of the newspaper’s average monthly revenue over the previous quarter (about US$ 350,000) for alleged noncompliance with government orders.
Accompanied by a group of people wearing shirts with the slogan "I'm Bonil," a replica of the French "Je suis Charlie," Xavier Bonilla 'Bonil', cartoonist of the newspaper El Universo in Ecuador, presented himself before the Superintendent of Information and Communication (Supercom) last Feb. 9, according to the Ecuadorian publication Plan V.
After more than a century in the hands of the Mantilla family, one of Ecuador's oldest and most traditional newspapers – El Comercio – has been sold to Latin American media mogul Remigio Ángel González, a Mexican who launched his TV empire in Guatemala and is known for avoiding editorial conflict with governments.
An upcoming vote that could alter the laws governing mass media in Ecuador has stoked fears in the Andean nation that the end of a free press in near.
After 32 years of print publication, the Ecuadorian daily newspaper Hoy announced that it will stop printing, buckling under government policy which many allege intends to cripple independent press. Hoy, known as an opposition publication, will continue with digital publication.
On World Press Freedom Day, celebrated last May 3, Ecuadorian media outlets abstained from republishing an illustration created by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) that criticizes President Rafael Correa for his government's pressures against the press.