SECTOR 1 Among the senior civil servants there is fear of reprisals, arbitrary transfers (administrators), exclusion from university institutions etc. and this obliges them to keep silent, or at least stay away from any public declaration of any form of criticism against those in power. Business owners also keep quiet as they feel threatened by tax investigations to which they could be subjected because of their unfavorable opinion about those in power. In general terms, most people think that there is fear among some socioprofessional groups including media professionals and their organizations. An illustration of this is seen by the fact that no television showed up though invited to cover and interview a former General, who was launching his book at the beginning of August 2011. Additionally, all oicers who were invited to that meeting agreed to go initially but did not show up because of “orders from above”. Ordinary citizens who do not have much ambition in terms of their career progress are instead taking advantage of the opportunities ofered by the media on call-in programs to seriously criticize those in power. he morning program of Golfe Fm is a case in point when one sees the way in which it gives the opportunity to air their views and “vent” as the spokespersons of the people. It has to be added that though many are happy about this opportunity, they still entertain fears that they could be possibly penalized for their opinions. It is not uncommon for those, who are enjoying their freedom of expression and those in civil society to sometimes hear statements such as “be careful”. Discussions by the panel made it possible to gather enough information on the degrees of fear at various levels including cultural and technical aspects (phone tapping). 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: 76 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER BENIN 2011 2.4 (2007=2.0 ; 2009=2.2)