Christian Zurita

“Populist Narratives in Digital Outlets and New Media in Latin America” (March 2024–August 2024)

Mr. Christian Zurita is a prominent investigative journalist with three decades of experience shedding light on issues of corruption, organized crime, and drug trafficking in Ecuador, among other topics. From 2002 to 2008, he served as the head of the 24-hour news investigation unit at Telemazonas, and later as investigation editor at Expreso until 2011. He co-founded the influential platforms Fundacion Mil Hojas and Periodismo de Investigación and authored several books, including Big Brother (2010, with Juan Carlos Calderon) and Arroz Verde (2019, with Fernando Villavicencio). Mr. Zurita has earned prestigious accolades, such as the National Journalism Award in 2009 and 2019 and the Data Journalism Award from the Inter-American Press Association (SIP). In 2023, he supported the presidential campaign of his friend, Fernando Villavicencio, and was selected as the presidential candidate for Movimiento Construye following Villavicencio’s public assassination on August 9, 2023, ultimately finishing in third place. During his fellowship, Mr. Zurita plans to analyze various populist narratives targeting journalism and independent media in Latin America, with the aim of building effective responses based on democratic principles. He intends to write an essay outlining the results of his research.