SECTOR 2 According to panellists, this has created a landscape where there is no competition because the media sector is controlled by a few conglomerates. Companies with media outlets and advertising agencies prefer to place advertisements in their own outlets; at the expense of a healthy media market. Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: ✓ ✓ ✓✓✓ ✓✓✓✓ ✓ ✓✓ 4.2 (2007 = 4.3; 2009 = 1.9; 2011 = 2.8; 2014 = 3.1) 2.6 Government promotes a diverse media landscape with economically sustainable and independent media outlets State support for private media is established by law. It is open to all legally registered media outlets in the Republic of Benin. The Information and Communication Code, promulgated in March 2015, created the Media Development Fund, which is jointly managed by a government representative, a representative of the HAAC and three representatives of professional associations. This fund, which will replace traditional aid, has not yet been implemented. For the last disbursements, state aid to private media amounted to 350 million FCFA (600,000 USD). The panel stated that in May 2018, the state paid half of the aid for the year 2018. Therefore, in total, the state is yet to make the payments for 2015, 2016, 2017 and part of 2018. In addition, ‘the state grants favourable treatment to private newspaper companies through a special tax regime. It may be a tax break, a reduction or an exemption on taxes, fees or royalties’ in accordance with Article 40 of the Information and Communication Code. Panellists described a different reality on the ground. The government has not disbursed state aid to the private press in the last four years and tax exemptions provided for in the law are yet to be applied. Some members of the panel speculated that the government seems more inclined to financially suffocate the press in order to better control it. From a distance, one could say that the public media are the exception. However, those with first-hand knowledge say they are underfunded. It was noted by the 23 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER BENIN 2018