Press Freedom and Media Reform in a Populist Regime: How Ecuadorian Journalists and Policy Actors See the Correa Era

Authors

  • Manel Palos Pons University of California, San Diego
  • Daniel C. Hallin University of California, San Diego

Keywords:

press freedom, media policy, journalism, populism, Latin America

Abstract

This article considers the debates about press freedom raised by an important case of populist media reform in Latin America, drawing on interviews with Ecuadorian journalists, policy makers, and commentators involved in the policy process. Whereas these cases are commonly understood, following a “libertarian” conception of press freedom, as threats to an independent press, interviewees saw a more complex picture. The majority agreed that press freedom was threatened under former president Rafael Correa’s regime in Ecuador; at the same time, most of respondents considered media regulation necessary given a history of “media capture,” and believed that journalistic professionalism had improved in Correa’s period. These results suggest that press freedom is a multidimensional reality in which the state plays a key role, proposing a further discussion about media regulation and populism in contemporary societies.

Author Biographies

Manel Palos Pons, University of California, San Diego

Manel is a PhD Candidate at UCSD in the Department of Communication, and a former journalist, with years of experience in Spain and Mexico. He also holds Master degrees in Journalism and Political Science and a long familiarity with Latin America. He has participated in a number of conferences, at the University of Oxford and at New York University, among other institutions. University of California, San DiegoDepartment of Communication9500 Gilman Dr. La Jolla, CA 92093-0503Tel: (858) 531 9990

Daniel C. Hallin, University of California, San Diego

PhD Political Science, University of California, Berkeley, Dan has focused his attention in the last years to the comparative analysis of media systems, centered on Western Europe and on Latin America. Most recently, Hallin has been doing research on health and medical reporting and the mediatization of health and medicine, working with the Berkeley Anthropologist Charles Briggs.Dan Hallin, ProfessorDepartment of Communication (0503)University of California, San Diego9500 Gilman DriveLa Jolla, CA 92093-0503Tel: (858)534-2843

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Published

2021-02-13

Issue

Vol. 15 (2021)

Section

Articles

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