A Powerful Vote

Ecuador’s journalism and media have been experiencing limitations for the last couple of years. The government has imposed certain communication laws, which have limited freedom of speech for reporters and journalists. There are testimonies from well-known press figures that demonstrate how people cannot express their opinion freely. The restrains for the Ecuadorian press started to be more critical during the presidential elections of 2009. Why? Because there were concerns from the government about the influence the press could have on voters, in favor of their opposition. Therefore, some reporters’ votes were a threat for being decisive or influential in the elections.

Carlos Vera, has been one of the most popular television journalists in Ecuador, and he has always been open towards politics by expressing his opinions. However, during the presidential elections of 2009, he was asked to leave his news show, because he had expressed some thoughts against the President Rafael Correa. This happened three weeks before the election.

After learning about how one vote in an election can be more valuable because of the impact it may have, I can better understand why Vera was denied his freedom of speech. There were worries from the government of the influence he will have on the population, and their voting decision. His vote itself was very unlikely to be decisive. However the influence of his choice and opinions on the thousands of people who listen to his broadcast nationally, increased the possibility of these votes collectively to be decisive. The expressive value of his vote was very high. Therefore it seems that his vote was considered very valuable by the government as they went through many actions in order for him to stop broadcasting his opinions. Thus, in order to avoid potential influences, and future conflicts, the news channel fired him.