🇪🇨 El Comercio

About El Comercio

El Comercio, founded in 1906 by the Mantilla family, remained under their ownership until January 12, 2015. It was then sold to Telglovisión S.A., a company owned by Mexican media mogul Remigio Ángel González, known for his extensive media holdings across Latin America and a tendency to avoid editorial conflict with governments.

Wikipedia identifies El Comercio as having a center-right to conservative political alignment. However, major media bias aggregators like Ground News, Ad Fontes Media, AllSides, and Media Bias/Fact Check do not provide a specific bias or factuality rating for El Comercio. The sale of the newspaper in 2015 raised concerns among press freedom advocates that its coverage of the Ecuadorian government might soften, a concern amplified by the subsequent firing of a prominent critical journalist. While some sources suggest El Comercio strives for objective, in-depth, and ethical reporting, the broader press freedom environment in Ecuador has been challenging, with journalists facing threats, attacks, and self-censorship, particularly due to organized crime and restrictive laws.