SECTOR 3 information about a leader of the opposition. Broadcasting journalists are convinced that some of them, vulgarly called “people of the Minister” are engaged in espionage. 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: 1.7 3.6 The state/public broadcaster is adequately funded in a manner that protects it from political interference through its budget and from commercial pressure. The Gabonese public broadcaster does not have an independent budget. It depends on the Ministry of Communication for funding, which makes allowances in an arbitrary manner. These allowances decreased from 400 million CFA francs (US$ 6975) to 100 million CFA francs (US$ 173,929) over time. This amount is paltry, compared to the annual income of the public office of radio television, estimated at one billion CFA francs (US$ 1,739,290) per year. It is also very inadequate to ensure optimal performance. Although most of the staff consists of civil servants, the radio and television of Gabon support dozens of contract employees. The public broadcaster is therefore obliged to use advertising to fund its operations. This financial pressure nevertheless does not always interfere with editorial decision-making. The impact is felt in the lower quality of the productions. External interference comes from elsewhere, that is, from the authorities. 96 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER GABON 2016