Ethiopian Gov’t  Seeks to Dictate Private Media On Content Coverage 

Borkena 

Toronto – The Ethiopian Government has been pressuring the Free press in the country for several years now. Over the past few years, it has arrested journalists over trumped up charges of “inciting violence” and “terrorism.” 

Now the government seems to be moving in the direction of telling private media outlets what to report under the guise of promoting contents that “shape the generation to have a good outlook,” and focus on national agenda. 

The topic was raised on Saturday during a  discussion on ways  private media and government could work together on “nation building.”

It was a state minister for government communication services ministry, Tesfahun Gobezay, is cited as saying media outlets have to “play their part”  in making stories  “achievements,”  accessible to the public. 

From what Fana Broadcasting, state media, reported, the government is now emphasizing a position that there has to be synergy between private and state media on matters of national interest and national agenda. 

The government alleges patterns of sensationalizing issues, reporting out of context and disseminate and hasty reporting not based on research in the t private media ( it called them commercial media) for the sake of increasing viewership. 

There is some specificity. For example, the government seems to prescribe that issues like Green Legacy, which has been projected as the Prime Minister’s flagship project, including by international media outlets, should get coverage from “commercial media” as well.  “Issues like these are not related to a given system or government,” argues the state minister. 

Samson Mekonnen, Director of Ethiopian Mass Media Authority, who was also attending the “discussion” seems to see “capacity building” as a “solution” to the problem. He unveiled that work is under a “center of excellence” to enhance skill and “work closely on common issues.”  

Access to information topic was also highlighted too. The government says it is working on access to information to address freedom to access information for media outlets. 

Notably, while there are plenty of state-owned media focusing on disseminating government agenda, rights abuses including the massacre of civilians by government forces is not reported. It is only in the private media outlets that stories of government crimes get coverage. A case in point is the recurring drone strike – verified – in the region against civilians. What is usually covered in state media is denials from the security forces or the defense force. 

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