Reflections on Press Freedom in Pre- and Post-reform Ethiopia: A Practitioners’ Perspective

doi:10.7176/nmmc/100-01

Abstract

Press freedom is significant for the development of democracy. Ethiopia has recognized freedom of press in the FDRE Constitution and other press regulations. This study assessed the pre-reform situation of press freedom in Ethiopia and post-reform or the period after the coming of Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed to power. We held one-on-one in-depth interviews with twelve purposively selected media practitioners working for both Government and privately-owned media based on their experience of doing journalism during pre-reform as well as post-reform era. The views of media practitioners were analyzed qualitatively. The study's findings revealed that the pre-reform press environment was one marked by repressive laws, government interventions, lack of professionalism, and weak financial capacity of media institutions. In the post-reform context, the status quo was changed and press freedom was better protected in comparative terms though there are challenges that need to be resolved. The study recommends that journalists should work under the existing legal framework, while of course should work to improve them, not to make their relationship with the Government inimical. Keywords: Press Freedom, post-reform Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, Media Practitioners, Democracy DOI: 10.7176/NMMC/100-01 Publication date: January 31 st 2022

Highlights

Freedom of the press was extensively provided in the 1995 FDRE Constitution
The Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) regime, which is transformed into Prosperity Party (P.P.), has jailed several journalists during the pre-reform period, while the constitution and successive laws provided for freedom of expression and the press; the Government did not uphold these rights in practice (Tura, 2007:21)
We involved twelve media practitioners who have better knowledge and experience on the situation of freedom of the press in Ethiopia. Those twelve media practitioners this study depended upon were purposively selected from Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC), Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT), Oromia Media Network (OMN), Ethiopian Herald Newspaper, The Reporter Newspaper, and Gulele Post Magazine

Summary

Introduction

Freedom of the press was extensively provided in the 1995 FDRE Constitution. According to Skjerdal (2012a), the period after EPRDF marks a significantly different arena of the press in Ethiopia in terms of formal press policy and space for independent journalism. The Government has monopolistically owned the media in the past over two decades These stifled the media institutions from entertaining diverse opinions and limited the public from reflecting their views freely. Many incidents reflect that the space for freedom of the press or independence of media institutions in Ethiopia has been limited. The Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) regime, which is transformed into Prosperity Party (P.P.), has jailed several journalists during the pre-reform period, while the constitution and successive laws provided for freedom of expression and the press; the Government did not uphold these rights in practice (Tura, 2007:21). The Government started used the 1992 press law, defunct, to intimidate journalists This was followed by the demise of newly established media outlets and a wave of journalists in exile. CPJ’s report indicates that the Ethiopian Government systematically cracked down on the remaining publications as it prepared for the May 2015 elections

Objectives

Methods

Conclusion