The advertising market is miniscule with only four telephone companies (SOTELGUI, Areeba, Intercel and Orange) placing ads. The market is also not transparent since the Guinean Publicity Agency (Agence Guinéenne de Publicité, AGP), a state corporation, does not publish any figures. The government reserves its adverts only for the state media and for foreign media that portray it favourably, at exorbitant costs. The High Communication Authority (Haute Autorité de la Communication, HAC), created by Law 003 of June 22, 2010, is the regulatory body for the audio-visual sector. In reality, however, control is still in the hands of the National Communication Council (Conseil National de la Communication, CNC) which, in accordance with the transitional provisions of the Constitution, plays the role of the HAC pending the setting up of the National Assembly after the legislative elections scheduled for November 2011. Once established, the HAC will authorise the creation and operation of private radio and television stations as well as community radio stations, and ensure that all strata of society have equitable access to the media. The Guinean Radio and Television Corporation (Radio Télévision Guinéenne, RTG) is run by the Ministry of Communication and has neither a statute nor a board of directors. It is a unit attached to the Ministry of Communication with a director appointed by the President of the Republic by decree. It has no editorial independence and no independent budget for programme production or the development of local content. Due to lack of means the state broadcaster covers only about 60% of the national territory. Government still maintains a tight grip on televised news on RTG to the extent that leaders of other political parties are obliged to use private radio stations to make their voices heard. Under the government of Lansana Conte, community broadcasters were promoted and their management committees participated in the production of programmes on their communities’ daily lives. This policy is being continued under the present government. A code of ethics for journalists has been put in place by the Guinean Media Ethics Observatory (Observatoire Guinéen pour la Déontologie dans les Médias, OGUIDEM), but not everyone respects it. OGUIDEM, originally the selfregulatory body for the print media, has been in existence since 2001, a few years before the airwaves were opened to all in 2005. The scope and quality of information provided is not quite satisfactory, although there are some notable exceptions in the private media. The media cover all subjects, although political information is still predominant. There is rampant corruption among media professionals. This is due to the precarious working conditions in the sector as well as a lack of proper training. 72 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER GUINEA 2011