34 SECTION 2: COUNTRY REPORTS 2019/2020 Note: These are condensed versions of the full country reports, which are available ANGOLA CENSORSHIP, DIGITAL SPACES AND INTERNET SHUTDOWNS and TV Zimbo; and about 23 online publications in the country. (5) Historically, Angola has received a poor world ranking for press freedom and access to information both online and offline, as evidenced by its Reporters Without Borders (RFS) rankings since 2013. (6) The poor ranking has been attributed to several factors including the weak mechanisms in upholding constitutional guarantees and due process. (7) RSF’s 2020 Barometer had reported that 247 journalists, 119 citizen journalists and 14 media assistants were imprisoned. In addition, reports on human rights and media freedom by Freedom House, (8) RSF (9) and AllAfrica (10) indicate that the media in Angola effectively operate under state censorship. MEDIA OWNERSHIP By Amanda Manyame INTRODUCTION Angola has 13 newspapers and nine radio stations. There are several television stations including Palanca TV, RTP África, Televisão Pública de Angola (the national broadcaster) Many private outlets are owned by senior officials of the ruling MPLA and are reported to act as mouthpieces of the current regime. (11) The largest privately owned media outlet Grupo Medianova is owned by a conglomerate of former MPLA government officials, former Vice President Manuel Vincente and two others. (12) Despite media houses largely belonging to politicians; there are also dissenting voices amongst the Angolan media community. For instance, Maka Angola is said to hold opposing views, and so are foreign news outlets, including Portuguese news agency Lusa, French news agency RFI, and Voice of America (VOA), all of