SECTOR 3 3.4 The state/public broadcaster is accountable to the public through an independent board which is representative of society at large and selected in an independent, open and transparent manner. The boards of directors of the public broadcasters do not report to the general public. They are appointed by the President of the Republic, on a proposal from the Minister of Communication. These boards sit in regular and extraordinary sessions in order to, among others, to adopt budgets and administrative expense accounts. In general, they have no power to actually influence the actions of State radio stations and television channels. Their role is to make recommendations to the Minister, who may take their recommendations into account or ignore them completely. 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: 1.3 3.5 The editorial independence of the state/public broadcaster from political influence is guaranteed by law and practised to ensure balanced and fair news and current affairs programmes. A meeting of the opposition was held in August 2012 not far from Gabon Television. But the channel did not mention this event in its daily news programme, which resulted in the arrest of more than a hundred people. Curiously, a few days later, this channel aired statements condemning a meeting that it hadn’t even mentioned before. “This clearly demonstrates that the role of the State broadcasters is to promote the point of view of the Government.” In Gabon, it is considered normal that a Minister or important official gives guidelines to State radio stations and television channels regarding the handing of information. A director from Gabon Television was fired for refusing to broadcast defamatory AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER GABON 2016 95