It's worth considering the wider context of Ecuadorian politics, media and power before immediately signing on to the "Assange is a hypocrite, Correa is a Dicta

It's worth considering the wider context of Ecuadorian politics, media and power before immediately signing on to the "Assange is a hypocrite, Correa is a Dictator" line that is clearly being sung from many media sheets. The private media's relationship to foreign power, interests that align with financial elites, and hostility to policies which prioritise the public good mean any politician who is trying to diminish the influence of media owners will be painted as an 'enemy of free speech'. If Obama revisited the legislation that allowed the truthiness of Fox News to flourish, he would also be painted as an 'enemy of free speech'. The problem with concentrated private media ownership is that it's a special type of free speech, curated and promoted by a handful of special-interest media owners, like our very own Rupert Murdoch. Correa talks about this in his interview with Assange, mentioning that 4 of the 5 private media owners are bankers, and that it makes it incredibly difficult to pass financial legislation that benefits Ecuador at the expense of financial interests. From the tidbits I've heard of his policies: * striving for a mix of 30% private media, 30% government, and 30% local / non-profit is a far more balanced media mix than many Western countries. * requiring media organisations not to have other interests is just a sane way to ensure conflicted situations in reporting don't arise. However I'd agree with you that there are definitely elements that paint a picture of a typical politician rather than a shining free speech advocate: see treatment of indigenous people opposing mining developments, his actions against publication of a book revealing contracts his brother has etc. Even considering this, much of the international reporting criticising Correa conflates his actions which clearly do involve improving the Ecuadorian media environment with actions which are clearly about suppressing dissent.