Ecuador TV as a means of propaganda in the presidential elections in Correa's era (2007-2017)

Abstract

Ecuador TV, launched in 2007, was the first public television channel in the history of Ecuador. As time went by, it was setting up as Rafael Correa's spokesperson until the end of his term of office in 2017. Correa took several measures in order to ensure the control of news media and favor his staying in power. Following this strategy, he increased the number of state-owned and confiscated media outlets, although Ecuador TV became the most determining due to its geographical scope and audience. This article aims to show the significance of Ecuador TV as means of propaganda through both the description of political, juridical and media contexts, and a relevant case study based on a detailed content analysis of news programs covering the three presidential campaigns that took place during Correa's term of office. We use both quantitative and qualitative methods taking in consideration diverse variables that allows us to conclude the presence of biases usually linked to political propaganda in favor of the party's official candidate and against its rivals. Together with bibliography related to these topics, another source has been the interviews with directors and managers of state-owned media outlets and government departments in charge of communications, who provide interesting approaches to reach more accurate conclusions.