No Correspondents' Dinner in Ecuador

I listen to Barack Obama at the annual White House Correspondents’ dinner. Obama quotes Thomas Jefferson who said, “If I had the choice between a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I would not hesitate to choose the latter.” Obama says that message is still relevant today: a government without critics and activists is not an option for the country.

“I may not agree with everything you write or report. I may even complain, or more likely Gibbs will complain, from time to time about how you do your jobs, but I do so with the knowledge that when you are at your best, then you help me be at my best,” Obama says. “You help all of us who serve at the pleasure of the American people do our jobs better by holding us accountable, by demanding honesty, by preventing us from taking shortcuts and falling into easy political games that people are so desperately weary of.”

While Obama acknowledges the work of the press, here President Rafael Correa insults it and discredits it. He calls the press corrupt, mediocre and asks people not to read newspapers or watch the news. He does not understand that without a free press and criticism, democracy falters and only the government’s point of view prevails. Or he understands it and tries to achieve just that.

Now I see Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez on TV. He threatens to shut down Globovision. What terrible offense did this channel commit? “Inciting panic and anxiety among the population” by reporting the news of an earthquake before the official authorities did. What a ridiculous excuse Chávez hopes to silence free voices with!

Our country, Ecuador, is not very different. The abuses of free press are dispersed between authoritarian governments. CONARTEL decides to bring an action against Teleamazonas. What was the channel’s most serious sin? Reporting and informing the public about what happened in a data center in the old Santa Isabel supermarket. They accuse the channel of disseminating information based on assumptions that may cause social shock and outrage.

It an excuse as ridiculous as the Venezuelan earthquake. Teleamazonas has simply reported and informed the public about the incomes and claims of political actors in the data center. These are facts, not assumptions. What each person says to the camera is his or her responsibility. The channel only fulfills its job to inform.

If it is deemed an offense, it could face temporary suspension or definitive reversion of the channel’s frequency. How the government would like that! Chavez without Globovision, Correa without Teleamazonas. Free at last from the media who tell them what they do not want to hear!

While I see Obama at his dinner with White House Correspondents, I wonder if it would be possible in our country to start a similar tradition, bringing together brotherhood and mutual respect for the president and the media in one event. In it, our president would also acknowledge the importance of journalists’ work and provide for a critical and free press.

But who are we kidding? With this Government’s low respect for the work of the media, before an invitation to dinner, they can expect a notification of their suspension. The dinner will have to wait for new governments that understand and respect the free press.