SECTOR 2 The media landscape, including new media, is characterised by diversity, independence and sustainability. 2.1 A wide range of sources of information (print, broadcasting, internet) is available and affordable to citizens. Print The print media in Ethiopia is characterised by very low circulation figures compared to the estimated population size of around 85 million people. The combined number of copies of both private and public publications does not exceed 100,000 per day. The actual readership is higher as it is estimated that every copy is read by five or more people. There are five state owned publications, including Addis Zemen, which is published daily in Amharic with a circulation of up to 15,000 copies, and Ethiopian Herald, published daily in English with a circulation of not more than 8000 copies. The number of private print media has been increasing in recent times. Addis Admas (weekly) and The Reporter (bi-weekly) are the prominent Amharic newspapers with a circulation of around 30,000 and 10,000, respectively. Fortune, Capital and The Reporter are weekly English newspapers with a circulation of 8000, 6000 and 2000 copies respectively, while the Daily Monitor is the only private daily in English with a rather limited circulation of around 1200 copies. There are a number of factors which contribute to the low circulation figures: illiteracy, the cost of newsprint, distribution problems and a crippling tax levied on the number of copies printed rather than the actual sales volume. Newspapers are expensive. A private newspaper costs around 5 birr which is double the price of a serving of the staple food, Injera. However, the two even more important reasons for the low number of copies in the market are the poor culture of reading among the general public as well as the poor quality of the papers. There are two news agencies: Walta Information Centre, a privately-owned pro government operation, and the state-owned Ethiopian News Agency. 26 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER ETHIOPIA 2010