WAY FORWARD The way forward 1. What were the developments in the media environment in the last two/three years? This AMB is the first for the Republic of the Congo. Most of the major developments in the media have taken place during the post-conflict period, which is more than a decade long. The following were the most recent and more defining. They are positive as well as negative. Positive developments Perhaps the most important development in Congolese media environment is the elimination of imprisonment for media offences and its replacement with fines. Journalists feel freer and a more daring as a result. In 2009, the country signed its first collective bargaining agreement for communication professionals, which has enhanced the legal framework for the improvement of the general working conditions of journalists. The document is recognised in the country’s labour court. After years in a “dilapidated” building, the public broadcaster moved into a new building fitted with comfortable offices and equipment in 2009. The building houses both the state radio and television. Negative developments Congolese media laws are generally progressive but many important provisions have been rendered inapplicable by the lack of operational legislation or texts of application. As a result, media freedom has evolved in a lot of confusion, uncertainty and abuse. As the industry grows more vibrant, so has the volume of pro-government propaganda in newspaper columns and on the airwaves. A kind of personality cult has sunk roots across the media, eroding its credibility and public respect. The suspicious death of an anti-corruption blogger in 2012 was not widely considered a negative development both because he was little-known within the national media circles and because it remains unclear if the fire that killed him and his family was an arson attack. AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO 2013 121