El Universo

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Rafael Correa is awarded an honorary doctorate by Santiago University in Chile on May 14, 2014. Four newspapers face fines for not covering the event sufficiently. (Reuters/Ivan Alvarado)

Ecuador’s year-old media law stifles in-depth reporting

Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa generated little actual news during a two-day trip to Chile last month. So Ecuador’s four main newspapers did the obvious: They published short wire service dispatches about his visit.

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Cartoonist sanctioned under Ecuador’s communications law

Bogotá, February 3, 2014- The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the decision by Ecuador’s media oversight agency on Friday to use the country’s communications law to sanction the leading local daily El Universo over a critical cartoon. The agency fined the daily and demanded that the cartoonist “correct” the cartoon within 72 hours, according to…

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Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, on a visit to Moscow in October 2013. (Reuters/Sergei Karpukhin)

Correa steps up fight; hacking alleged on both sides

Seven months after Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa flirted with the idea of offering asylum to former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, intercepted communications and leaked emails are again making headlines in the Andean country. This time, the story is not about international surveillance but a window onto the latest front in the ever-escalating war…

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Opposition lawmakers protest the approval of the Communications Law in the National Assembly. (AFP/Eduardo Flores)

New Ecuadoran legislation seen as a gag on critics

After inspecting a hydroelectric project in northern Ecuador last year, President Rafael Correa complained about the scant press coverage of his visit and suggested it was part of a media blackout. “Did the Ecuadoran media conspire to ignore this important event? It seems like that is the case,” Correa told the crowd at a town…

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A passer-by stops to look at a newspaper the day after Correa is re-elected. (AFP/Rodrigo Buendia)

Battle between Correa, Ecuadoran press to wage on

In the wake of President Rafael Correa’s landslide re-election on Sunday, many Ecuadoran reporters are bracing for another four years of conflict with his left-leaning government.  Neither side claims to relish the prospect, but continued clashes seem inevitable given the bad blood that has developed between them. 

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Attacks on the Press: Beyond Article 19

The right to news and opinion is enshrined in international law. It’s not enough. By Joel Simon

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Supporters of President Rafael Correa attend a political rally in Quito, Ecuador, on February 9. (Reuters/Guillermo Granja)

Electoral law dulls reporting as Correa nears re-election

It’s by far the dullest space in the newspaper: Every day in El Universo, Ecuador’s leading daily, readers can find eight small photos and news blurbs summing up the activities of the eight presidential candidates. The articles are the same size and blocked together in a layout that resembles a tic-tac-toe game, minus the ninth…

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CPJ
Protesters gather outside the Cabot Awards on Thursday. (CPJ/Sara Rafsky)

Correa supporters protest as Cabot winners celebrated

The Maria Moors Cabot Prizes, administered by Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in recognition of journalistic contributions to Inter-American understanding, are the oldest international prizes in journalism. But Josh Friedman, director of the prizes, said this year marked the first time he remembered arriving at the awards ceremony to be greeted by protesters screaming…

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Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa holds the hands of Christine Assange, the mother of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, during a meeting in Quito, Ecuador, Aug. 1. (AP/Martin Jaramillo)

As it backs Assange, Ecuador stifles expression at home

The Quito government’s decision to grant Julian Assange political asylum comes at a time when freedom of expression is under siege in Ecuador. President Rafael Correa’s press freedom record is among the very worst in the Americas, and providing asylum to the WikiLeaks founder won’t change the repressive conditions facing Ecuadoran journalists who want to…

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In Ecuador, Correa verbally attacks El Universo editor

New York, June 26, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns personal attacks made by Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa on Gustavo Cortez, editor of the leading daily El Universo. 

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