Delegation due to meet with government officials, local journalists
New York, March 9, 2018–CPJ will lead a high-level advocacy mission to Guayaquil and Quito in Ecuador from March 12 to 16, to investigate the restrictions and threats facing the press, meet with local journalists and partner organizations, and to advocate with government officials for greater press freedom. A press conference to discuss the mission’s findings is scheduled to take place at the offices of the local press freedom group Fundamedios, in Quito, at 10:30 a.m. on March 16.
Members of CPJ staff, including Executive Director Joel Simon, will take part in the mission alongside IPYS director and CPJ Americas advisory board member Ricardo Uceda, and Columbia University professor Anya Schiffrin.
The group is scheduled to meet with Ecuador’s Secretary of Communication Andrés Michelena and members of the National Assembly to discuss the 2013 communications law. CPJ will also meet with the National Union of Journalists, staff at outlets including El Universo, Ecuavisa, and Plan V, and Ecuadoran journalist Fernando Villavicencio. CPJ and Fundamedios are scheduled to host a conversation about the threats faced by women journalists, at Café Democrático in Quito, at 8 p.m. on March 15.
CPJ is an independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide
Note to Editors:
To organize interviews with mission participants, contact press@cpj.org
To attend the press conference, contact Paola Aguilar at Fundamedios, via paguilar@fundamedios.org.ec. The conversation at Café Democrático will be livestreamed via Facebook.