From State Repression to Fear of non-state Actors: Examining Emerging Threats of Journalism Practice in Ethiopia

Abstract

ABSTRACT Non-state media journalists in Ethiopia traditionally faced safety threats emanating from state-sponsored attacks and punitive legal frameworks. Recently, however, state hostility is being replaced by non-state actors’ aggression against journalists. By framing emerging threats of reporters’ safety in Ethiopia within normative vis-à-vis alternative debates of journalism practice in the context of transitional, unstable, pluralistic-partizan societies, this study examines the prevalence of non-state actors in remapping threats of journalistic impunity in Ethiopia. Key findings from interviews conducted with editors, reporters, and other practitioners indicate, while the government cannot be ruled out as a safety threat for journalists, there is an emerging consensus that identifies non-state actors such as vigilante groups, influential social media political personalities, and weaponized media as the most perceptible safety risks to journalism practice. Although threat levels vary depending on journalists’ regional affiliation or perceived ethnic identity/political worldview, domestic journalists face increased native othering that amounts to mobility restrictions and physical aggression compared to foreign correspondents.