US$200 is required every two years: This is a thinly veiled authorisation by the same Ministry, which grants the licences of broadcasters. The journalistic profession is not subject to restrictions. It is, however, subject to an internship, which varies in duration according to previous education: one year for those who graduated from journalism schools and two years for candidates from other disciplines. Recipients receive their official press cards at the end of the internship, handed over by the Congolese National Press Union (UNPC), in virtue of Law no. 81/012 of 2 April 1981 on the status of journalists. Access to public information is as difficult for journalists as it is for citizens, given that no law guarantees access. The 1996 Law stipulates that “a journalist is free to access all sources of information” but in reality the protection of these sources remains contested. Despite political and legal pressures, journalists keep refusing to reveal their sources basing themselves on the Code of Ethics. Setting up websites and blogs does not require any authorisation or preliminary permission. The State, however, through its intelligence agents tries to filter Internet content, including via mobile phones, especially during election times and the armed conflict in the East of the country. Although there is a Ministry of Information Communication Technologies and a regulatory authority for Post and Telecommunications (ARPTT), no policy on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is in place yet. Electricity, which is the source of energy for telecommunications, is not available throughout the country, not even in Kinshasa. This makes access to broadcasting services and electronic media, including phones, very difficult for citizens. Congolese journalist and media organisations but also other civil society organisations have defended the freedom of the press through a number of protest marches, the publication of memoranda, communiqués. A lot of the laws relating to the media – generally progressive – are most often the result of successive battles of media professionals pitted against the Ministry of Communication. These laws have yet to be effectively rather than selectively implemented. There is a large variety of media in the DRC: over 68 television channels, over 216 radio stations of all sorts and about 65 newspapers – out of almost 200 titles declared – are published more or less regularly, drawing an average of 1500 copies per issue. The costs are not affordable to everyone: newspapers are sold at 1000 Congolese Francs (about US$1), which basically equals what the average Congolese lives off per day. The practical costs and logistics that go with it, still are a deterrent to accessing the Internet; the computers notably and energy to get them running, are presently out of reach for the vast majority of the population. AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER Democratic Republic of Congo 69