SECTOR 2 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: 2.6 (2009: 4.4) 2.8 All media fairly reflect the voices of society in its ethnic, linguistic, religious, political and social diversity. Côte d’Ivoire’s ethnical, linguistic, religious, political and social diversity is represented in the public radio and television programming. Since their explosion in the 90s, community radio and local radio stations have truly contributed to establishing a balance to this heterogeneity. Their broadcasts, while not exhaustive, offer a close reflection of Ivorian regional diversity. They are generally aired in local languages and deal with community issues. Print media, as for example the newspaper La Nouvelle, covers the main religious streams, Muslim, Protestant as well as Catholic, even though certain minorities such as the animists don’t really feature in the Ivorian media landscape. The panel drew attention to the growing and worrying imbalance between regional print media and the predominance of urban community newspapers. The panellists admitted that the bulk of Ivorian media, in the tight grip of the market, are mostly aimed at the active population and very little at the elderly. On the same note, the media are lacking in originality and do not always push sufficiently when it comes to researching information. It needs to be said that regional stories have serious financial implications, which limit these kinds of reports. Indeed, it frequently happens that crews sent to cover important news beyond the main centres, take the opportunity to film other reports in that region, in order to cut their costs. 88 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER COTE D’IVOIRE 2012