4.8 Salary levels and general working conditions for journalists and other media practitioners are adequate. Most panelists agreed that the economic circumstances of the media in Guinea do not allow for journalists to earn decent wages, given prohibitively high expenses such as for fuel. In the private sector journalists neither sign work contracts nor are they covered by collective bargaining agreements. For most, therefore, the question of compliance with a labour code, registration with social security, or even of receiving a payslip does not even arise. Salary levels are very low, varying between 300 000FG and 600 000 FG15 a month for a cub reporter, an amount that will not even buy a bag of rice, and one million FG for newspaper editors. Worse still, employees can be dismissed without any prior written notice. In the public sector, salary levels are also very low. A wage earner in Category A for example, with 28 years of service, is paid only 870 000 FG16 a month. The only media trade union is the one in the public sector, but its members are civil servants, paid from the state budget. The only exception are RTG contract workers whose total pay can go up to about 8 million FG per month. Salaries in the broadcasting sector rose considerably, reaching 2 million FG17, during the peak period of advertising by mobile phone operators. However, these operators have since changed their advertising strategy and this source of income has now dried up. 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: 15 1US$ = 7000 FG ; entre 43 US$ et 86 US$ 16 124 US$ 17 286 US$ 116 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER GUINEA 2011 1.2 (2008 = n/a; 2006 = n/a)