Armed men storm TC Televisión during a live broadcast in Guayaquil

A group of armed, masked men stormed the TC Televisión studio in Guayaquil on 9 January 2024 while a live newscast was on air. For several minutes, the broadcast showed station staff held on the floor at gunpoint and threatened with explosives, until the National Police regained control of the building and arrested the attackers.

The attack came amid a wave of violence following the escape of a criminal leader from a prison in Guayaquil. That same day, President Daniel Noboa signed a decree recognizing the existence of an “internal armed conflict” and designating some twenty gangs as terrorist organizations.

Press-freedom organizations such as Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists noted that the attack was not an isolated event: Ecuadorian journalists who cover organized crime, especially on the coast, have worked under direct threats for years.

The image of a newsroom seized live sums up the risk local journalism faces: not only reporting on violence, but becoming its stage.

Sources: Reporters Without Borders; Committee to Protect Journalists.