Back in September, three judges of Ecuador’s Got Talent humiliated and scolded contestant Carolina Peña for being an atheist.
The global atheist community strongly rejected the attitude with which the judges María Fernanda Ríos, Paola Farías and Wendy Vera reacted when they learned that Peña was an atheist; last week, Ríos was removed from the show.
Yesterday, Ecuavisa, the TV station, was sanctioned for discrimination:
[The Superintendency of Information and Communication (SUPERCOM)] determined the responsibility of the media outlet Ecuadorian Corporation Television SA “Ecuavisa” for broadcasting discriminatory content on the basis of age and religion, in the “Ecuador’s Got Talent” show that aired on 20 September 2015. The infringement is specified in Article 62 of the LOC [Organic Law Communication].
The administrative ruling states that the Director of the media outlet should broadcast, in the same space, a public apology to the teenager contestant and to the Ecuadorian Atheist Association, within a maximum period of two following Sundays, starting from the notification of the resolution.
The apology will also have to be posted on their homepage, for a period not shorter than seven successive days, and they will also have to send a copy to the SUPERCOM for posting on the institutional web page.
It is gratifying to see that justice has been served in this case and that the rights of an atheist were respected. Much of the credit goes to the Ecuadorian Atheist Association that acted quickly to address the issue.
I’m guessing Ríos, Farías and Vera won’t be in the mood to tell someone else that being an atheist is wrong for a long time. I hope they learned their lesson.
(via Gustavo Mota | image: Ecuador Tiene Talento)
