WAY FORWARD The way forward 1. Which changes have taken place in the media field in these past three years? Positive changes: The media environment reveals that various changes have occurred between 2006 and 2012. Some have been viewed as positive, in particular: • Establishing the High Council for Broadcasting and Communication (CSAC), different in its make up and the way it is run, compared to the former High Authority for Media (HAM) • The Observatory of the Congolese Media (OMEC) now working at cruising speed since the implementation of the Code of Ethics for journalists was adopted in 2004 • Adoption of a new collective bargaining agreement for media professionals in 2009 • Multitude of radio and television channels • Better Internet access and more media websites • Adoption of Law no. 11/004 of 25 June 2011, which pertains to the duty of receivers of audiovisual content • Adoption of the new statutes of the RTNC and ACP • Improvement of the social condition of RTNC and ACP employees • Establishment of professional organisations Negative changes: • The High Council for Audiovisual and Communication has lost its independence from the Ministry of Communication: compared with its predecessor (HAM), this is a step backward. • Decrease in democracy support organisations • Number of journalists assassinated increased 2. Activities for the next years • • • • The launch of the African Media Barometer DRC 2012 report. Organising the colloquium on licence fees and the state broadcaster (RTNC) Organising training and retraining courses in order to build journalists’ capacity. Organising a campaign for access to information. AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER Democratic Republic of Congo 121