SECTOR 3

3.6
The editorial independence of the state/public
broadcaster from political influence is guaranteed by
law and practiced.
Section 44, paragraph 3 of the Constitution of Angola categorically states
that, “the state shall guarantee the existence and independent functioning of a
qualitatively competitive public service radio and television service”. However, in
practice this constitutional provision is largely ignored by those in government,
there being excessive editorial interference in the two public broadcasters, namely
RNA and TPA.

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

3.7
The state/public broadcaster is adequately
funded in a manner that protects it from arbitrary
interference through its budget and from all commercial
pressure.
This is not true. One of the participants noted, for example, that at some point
RNA did not receive any the necessary funding of new investments from
government in eight years. The government pays for the salaries, which in the
case of RNA amount to about US$8 million per year from the state budget, but
does very little in the way of new investments. There are no radio and television
fees, and both public radio and television are funded entirely through government
grants and the revenue they receive from advertising. The dependence of RNA
and TPA on commercial advertising revenue makes them potentially vulnerable to
economic interests outside their mandate as public service providers.
There are serious difficulties in getting funds to run RNA’s and TPA’s provincial
stations. Sometimes, in order to cover districts in the interior, journalists have

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AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER ANGOLA 2010

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