People in the United States often don’t realize the significance of events like the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which was held just days ago. But for people in other parts of the world, particularly journalists where press freedom of any kind is still a distant dream, such an event is hard to imagine. In this article from Ecuador’s El Universo, Manuel Ignacio Gomez Lecaro laments the lack of such institutions in Ecuador and Venezuela, where Presidents Correa and Chavez trample press freedom as a matter of course.
For El Universo, Manuel Ignacio Gomez Lecaro writes in part:
“While President Obama acknowledges the work of the press, here, President Correa insults and disparages it. … I see Hugo Chávez on TV. He threatens to remove the concession of Globovision. And what was the channel’s terrible infraction? “Inciting panic and anxiety among the population” by reporting news of an earthquake before the authorities did. A ridiculous excuse.”
When I see Obama at his dinner with reporters, I wonder if we could start a similar tradition – an event that would join the president and media in brotherhood and mutual respect. But we shouldn’t kid ourselves. With this government’s lack of respect for the work of the media, one can expect a notification of suspension before an invitation to dinner.
By Manuel Ignacio Gómez Lecaro
Translated By Miguel Gutierrez
May 14, 2009
Ecuador – El Universo – Original Article (Spanish)
I listen to Barack Obama at the annual dinner with journalists who cover the White House. Obama quotes Thomas Jefferson who said, “If I’m forced to choose between a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I would not hesitate to choose the latter.” Obama says that this message is still alive: a government without an active and critical media is not an option for the country.
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