SECTOR 1 According to certain panel members, the compassion for and commitment of citizens to freedom of the media is real, even if it is not openly declared. In contrast, organised civil society seems “well-charted” and controlled by authorities. New civil society organisations are now hardly granted approval and the government puts great economic pressure on media and civil society members. In 2004, media owners, who went to Brussels and Paris, accompanied by journalists and human rights activists, to inform the European Union and international media defence organisations (International Federation of Journalists and Reporters Without Borders) of the arbitrary conviction of the newspaper Le Matin’s editor (Mohamed Benchicou) suffered severe fiscal and financial retaliatory measures. Even if defending the freedom of the media is not their priority, civil society organisations sometimes mobilize in favour of the media. For instance, the Algerian Human Rights League (LADH) organised a protest in 2004 in TiziOuzou as a show of solidarity with the newspaper Le Matin, suspended by the authorities. For stakeholders in civil society, their commitment is intact but less visible due to the overall narrowing of places of freedom. Press unions are practically non-existent since the dissolution of the Movement of Algerian Journalists in 1991. In any case they are completely disorganised. Attempts to bring them together are stalled by political rivalry. Moreover, certain media owners show very little interest in initiatives to defend the freedom of the media. (See indicator 4.10). Unfortunately, relations between the media and civil society organisations are sometimes quite tense. The Algerian Human Rights League recalls the media “tearing it to pieces” in the past by order of hidden forces. The LADH also mentions the refusal of a newspaper to publish a reply it had sent following an article it deemed biased. Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country minimally meets aspects of the indicator. 3 Country meets many aspects of indicator but progress may be too recent to judge. 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator. 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator and has been doing so over time. Average score: 24 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER ALGERIA 2009 2.3