Sunday 23 April 2017

Ecuador fines media for not publishing a story

Outgoing Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa with his successor, Lenin Moreno

Ecuador has fined seven media companies for not publishing a story that it deemed of public interest. The state's media watchdog said the press had a duty to cover a story about the supposed offshore dealings of opposition politician and recent presidential candidate Guillermo Lasso. The investigation was published in an Argentine newspaper in March. The watchdog and the media companies have accused each other of censorship. Appeals are under way. The ruling was made against newspapers El Comercio, La Hora, Expreso and El Universo, and television channels Televicentro, Teleamazonas and Ecuavisa. The watchdog, known as Supercom, has fined the companies $3,750 (£3,000), the equivalent of 10 journalists' basic salaries, it said.
Supercom's superintendent Carlos Ochoa called the fines both a punishment and a motivation for improving journalistic practices.  Pedro Valverde, a lawyer for El Universo newspaper, told the BBC he will be "exhausting all administrative and judicial options to annul this absurd sanction". The report, "Lasso: the offshore tycoon", was first published by Argentina's left-wing Pagina 12 newspaper, and was picked up by various other Ecuadorean news outlets ahead of the country's election on 2 April. Local free speech organisation Fundamedios said the government should not be fining the media.
"It is an act of censorship designed to give the government the role of editor of all media, deciding what to publish or not," said director Cesar Ricaurte.
Supercom acts under the controversial communications law. Introduced by President Rafael Correa in 2013, the law gives officials the power to sanction media outlets.

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