information dissemination, and thus expand the social communication network, the public media enjoys a privileged status when it comes to accessing official sources. Nonetheless, some state-owned companies are slowly opening up to allow the private media to cover their issues. Media Diversity Newspaper and radio services are largely concentrated in Luanda. Three private radio services - Luanda Antena Comercial (LAC), Radio Ecclesia and Despertar are in operation in Luanda. The list of privately owned newspapers in circulation includes Semanário Angolense, A Capital, Folha 8, Terra Angolana, Agora and Jornal Angolense. Two regional weekly papers, The Cruzeiro Do Sul and Chela Press are also in the market. The former focuses on the provinces of Benguela, Huíla, Huambo and Cunene and the latter covers the areas of Huíla and Benguela. Some community newspapers also play important roles in information sharing. Infosambila from the Sambizanga area and Ondaka from the Huambo are two of the most popular. These initiatives enable information circulation in some provincial circles where the private press does not exist. Radio Ecclesia has not been able to make headway in its requests to expand its broadcast coverage due to the non-existence of a clear framework. The matter has been put on hold by the Ministry of Social Communication. The Radio School, which had initially started off with technical support from the Ministry of Social Communication Technique has started functioning independently. It has connections to Radio National for presentation of its main news services. Radio National already possesses, five other service networks Radio 5, for sports, Radio Luanda, for the capital city, CANAL A (national service in Portuguese language) and Radio Ngola Yetu. Media Fraternity The media associations and some non-governmental organisations have expressed concern about the positioning of the media fraternity. MISA-Angola has been involved in discussions on the role of the media and media laws of the country. The Union of Angolan Journalists (UJA) has played a key role in forming partnerships among the media professionals. Conclusion The year 2007 was not very different from the previous year. With the sound economic backing of government, the public media continued to attract skilled professionals from the private press. Radio Ecclesia lost 10 journalists to the public media during the year. The delay in implementation of the Press Law did not help much to bring about positive change in the country’s media environment. In order to improve the current social communication scenario and journalists’ socio-economic conditions in Angola, a greater intervention at all levels is necessary. Organisations such as MISA, the Syndicate of Angolan Journalists (SJA), UJA and the Angola Media Women’s Association (AMUJA), can indeed play a key role. So This Is Democracy? 2007 -17- Media Institute of Southern Africa