SECTOR 4 In 2007, the National Press Board had to make an “appeal for the professional reporting of information” following violent demonstrations in the Marcory (Abidjan) neighbourhood in reaction to a newspaper article on the death of a house worker beaten by her boss. The CNP stated in its press release that “certain newspapers, in their Thursday 21 June 2007 edition, reported that the house worker was dead whereas she is well and truly alive. This information, published without being verified in the least, could have had more serious consequences on the social climate, on the lives and properties of the community to which the accused person belongs”. Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country minimally meets aspects of the indicator. 3 Country meets many aspects of indicator but progress may be too recent to judge. 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator. 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator and has been doing so over time. Average score: 1.3 4.2 The standard of reporting follows the basic principles of accuracy and fairness. Like the Ivorian media in general, reporting is a victim of the collusion between journalism and politics. Inexplicable differences may appear in the reports of several journalists on the same news item. This tendency is particularly perceived in the reporting of public demonstrations. The number of demonstrators may vary from a few thousand to several hundred thousand depending on the newspaper. It was therefore that during a famous gathering at the Place de la République, a protest which started off with 5,000 individuals, based on the most cautious estimate, was transformed – through the mere presence of onlookers – to a huge demonstration of almost a million individuals. There seems to be a real problem in the standard of reporting such information by journalists. Furthermore, the National Press Board has, over the past few months, sounded the alarm regarding the standard of reporting in newspapers. In its press release of 19 January 2009, the press regulator expressed its surprise at the dissimilarities noted in the description of two events that occurred a few days before: the malaise of Mr. Henri Konan Bédié in Tiapoum and the confrontation between students of the Adjamé university campus and the neighbourhood residents. “In reading all AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER IVORY COAST 2009 117