SECTOR 2 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: 3.8 2.2 Citizens’ access to domestic and international media sources is not restricted by state authorities. There are no restrictions for the public to access domestic media sources. Restrictions are also very rare regarding foreign media sources. It shall, however, be noted that the printing of a foreign newspaper in Algeria is subject to very strict conditions. The Arab television station MBC has been waiting to open a local office in Algeria for two years. Al Jazeera received a flat refusal because foreign media cannot produce local content for the Algerian public. In the print media, authorities can sometimes take confiscatory measures (eg. Le Monde, Jeune Afrique) or in rare cases prohibition measures. The fact remains that Algeria has the lowest printing costs in Africa. Also, satellite dishes are quite inexpensive and this facilitates the citizens’ access to foreign television and radio stations. If the government restricts access to the media, panel members believe that the internet could be an easy way of circumventing this problem. 30 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER ALGERIA 2009