Open AccessPolitical Cartoon in Ecuador
Author(s) -
David Vásquez León
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
politikon
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1583-3984
pISSN - 2414-6633
DOI - 10.22151/politikon.25.6
Subject(s) - cartoonist , newspaper , censorship , politics , publishing , government (linguistics) , media studies , political science , sociology , advertising , history , law , linguistics , philosophy , business
Cartoonist Xavier Bonilla and El Universo newspaper were sanctioned in 2014 after publishing a cartoon which, according to the sanction, motivated social agitation and was inaccurate. Against a backdrop of continuous friction between Rafael Correa’s government and private media in Ecuador, the text examines if the sanction created an environment of fear or self-censorship (chilling effect) in other cartoonists in Ecuador. For the analysis, 81 cartoons from three newspapers were monitored and analyzed during the month following the February 23th elections in Ecuador, in which the results were not as favorable for the government as in several previous elections. The results the paper shows signal there is no chilling-effect influencing how cartoonists draw cartoons or how they choose what to draw. On the other hand, it evidences that El Telégrafo, tough a public newspaper, eschews publishing cartoons portraying Correa or members of the majoritarian political party in Ecuador, Alianza País.