President Correa cannot continue to hope to create a new pluralist order while continuing to respond in such an intransigent manner to minor criticism against him in the media, states RSF.
(RSF/IFEX) – 6 September 2011 – The following is a letter of appeal from RSF to Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa addressing the increasing hostility he has shown towards privately-owned media:
President Rafael Correa Delgado
Carondelet Palace
Quito, Ecuador
Dear President Correa,
Reporters Without Borders, an international organization that defends freedom of expression, recently referred to the mounting tension between you and some of the privately-owned media, tension that was exacerbated by the daily El Universo’s prosecution at your request ( http://en.rsf.org/ecuador-president-s-lawsuit-ends-with-jail-21-07-2011,40675.html ). We fear that this polarization could affect not only editorial pluralism but also the needed debate about media and communication in Ecuadorean society. The situation requires clear decisions from you.
You have displayed a paradoxical attitude since the 20 July court decision against El Universo and three of its representatives. Their appeal against the ruling has been followed by an appeal by your lawyers on the grounds that the damages award of 40 million dollars was much less than the 80 million dollars requested. The damages awarded, which were still exorbitant in our view, were accompanied by prison sentences for the three defendants.
While maintaining the case against El Universo, you have nonetheless said that you do not want to see the three journalists detained at all costs. You also took the trouble to write to the newspaper’s staff on 28 August to say that “I would never allow [the newspaper’s] workers to be the victims of the bad faith and irresponsibility of those who, while running a media business, have believed themselves to also be the owners of people’s honour.”
Reporters Without Borders has never denied that some journalists are very aggressive towards you, sometimes outrageously so. We also understand how you felt personally wounded when your response to the police uprising of 30 September 2010 prompted the astonishing accusation of “crime against humanity,” giving rise to this prosecution.
The position of Reporters Without Borders on this episode was clear from the outset ( http://en.rsf.org/ecuador-police-uprising-against-president-01-10-2010,38482.html ). We nonetheless wish to point out that the mutiny was never supported or encouraged by the media that criticize or oppose your government, although such has unfortunately been the case in other countries in the hemisphere.
The events of 30 September 2010 should above all not be used as grounds for systematic hostility towards some of the media, hostility that existed already but has increased since then. The damages you are demanding from El Universo encourage self-censorship. You cannot maintain this demand and at the same time reassure the newspaper’s staff. It is time to choose, and your decision will not affect just this case, which is not the only one of its kind.
You cannot continue to hope to create a new pluralist order in your country or to promote a balance between different kinds of media while at the same time continuing to respond in such an extreme and intransigent manner to minor criticism against you in the media. A revolution or a war with the media – the choice is yours.
Reporters Without Borders tried to offer a fair and measured analysis of the initial version of the proposed media law ( http://en.rsf.org/ecuador-media-volatility-and-the-risky-15-06-2010,37743.html ). The debate on this future law has now resumed after a long period of controversy. The bill needs major amendments, including the decriminalization of media offences and strict limitation of the kinds of content that will be regulated or banned (including pedophilia, direct appeals for hatred, racism or discrimination, and incitement of violence). The aim of promoting “exact, opportune and contextualized news coverage” must also be dropped.
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