SECTOR 1

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: 			

2.8

1.5
Print publications are not required to obtain
permission to publish from state authorities.
Publishers or news agencies are now required to set up a company in Ethiopia
before applying for a certification of registration for print publications. The new
Freedom of the Mass Media and Access to Information Proclamation in its
article 9 states that “anyone who desires to publish a periodical shall register such
periodical ... with the Ministry of Information ...” The Ministry of Information
has to issue a certificate of registration within 30 days of application. If it does not
respond, the periodical or news agency will be deemed registered. However, the
ministry may refuse to issue the certificate and inform the applicant, in writing,
about the reasons for the refusal.
The certificate of registration is also subject to renewal once every three years.
Instances of renewal applications for newspapers and other media being turned
down have occurred in the past.
Since the Ministry of Information was dissolved in 2009, it is now the Broadcasting
Authority which is in charge of issuing licences for both print and broadcasting
media.

16

AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER ETHIOPIA 2010

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