SECTOR 3 3.6 The editorial independence of the state/public broadcaster from political influence is guaranteed by law and practiced. Under the specific law of 2004, the public broadcaster’s editorial independence is guaranteed under (articles 4, 5, 6), but the panel reckons that it is not applied. The public broadcaster’s rights and duties are set down in the Cahier des Charges (specifications), attached to each operating agreement, approved by the State and the broadcaster. Cases of political interference are the norm even though the problem is barely addressed publicly. 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: 2.1 (2009: 2.6) 3.7 The state/public broadcaster is adequately funded in a manner that protects it from arbitrary interference through its budget and from all commercial pressure. Funding for the public broadcaster is to one part derived from licensing fees, which amount to 300 million CFA a month (about €458,015 which correspond to the payroll). They are directly transferred to the RTI. Another part comes from a State budget, which the Ministry of Economy and Finance decide on. The rest of the funding results from advertising shares. According to the panellists, no transparency on the revenues of the RTI exists, the personnel, however, has suffered strong staff reductions (from 800 to 324 employees). One of the panellists comments that in order to survive the RTI will “have to earn advertisement market shares, especially in the face of looming privatisation.” Consequently, even for educational programmes or on human rights, the channel already relies more and more on sponsored content. 98 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER COTE D’IVOIRE 2012