The challenges of coverage of organized crime in Ecuadorian journalism

Abstract

The journalistic coverage related to drug trafficking is based on information provided by the public force and the Prosecutor's Office, which limits the work and scope of journalists work. This is determined based on a discourse analysis made to several notes published in three months by different media. The results also show that, on these issues, the "setting" agenda (thematic agenda of a media outlet) is not handled by journalists or the media. Journalists work in Ecuador in a complex and dangerous scene, which should lead them to improve the form of coverage.