Correa was highly critical of the Ecuadorian press, stating that it "does not inform, it defends the pockets of its owners". Accusing the press of lying and slandering him, he proposed a law that would ban those working in the financial sector from financing media outlets. Paraphrasing Tony Blair, he stated that the Ecuadorian press acted as "a group of wild beasts". He has also regularly criticized it as "...mediocre, incompetent, inaccurate, lying and is a part of the structure of corruption and accomplice of the national disaster." Following the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt, Correa stated that he would close down any Ecuadorean media outlet that called for a coup against his government. The US State Department has noted "There is more then a grain of truth in Correa's observation that the Ecuadorian media play a political role, in this case the role of the opposition", further adding that the news outlets are owned by wealthy elites who see his economic reforms as a threat to their own position.