Ethiopia: Mesfin Negash on Press Freedom and the Ethiopian Elections

Mesfin Negash is the Managing Editor of Addis Neger newspaper, a popular independent weekly founded in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in October 2007. Publication of the paper ceased in December 2009 after editors and managers there received a credible warning that they were to be targeted under anti-terrorism legislation. They subsequently fled the country. Addis Neger has since started publishing news and commentary online, and is now operated from outside Ethiopia. Addis Neger can be found at www.addisnegeronline.com .

 

In this guest blog, Mesfin Negash shares his thoughts on the elections that took place in Ethiopia on Sunday 23 May, and reflects on the challenges facing the Ethiopian media today.

 

The last Ethiopian general elections, in 2005, resulted in a violent government crackdown on the media and opposition. Dozens of journalists, as well as reformers and political opposition members, were jailed on charges of treason or “subverting the constitution,” amongst other accusations. Last Sunday’s vote, which resulted in a landslide win for Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s ruling party, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), was marred by allegations of voter intimidation, and by the exclusion of opposition views from the mass media.

 

The views expressed below are the author’s, and do not necessarily reflect those of the International Press Institute. <ins></ins>

 

This year’s election in Ethiopia had no chance of being free and fair from the outset mainly because of what the ruling party has laid down over the last five years. A free and fair election requires a free society in which journalists can obtain independent sources of information and have the full freedom to voice opinions without any fear of reprisal. No free and fair election can be held in the absence of a vibrant and free media, whether it is in Ethiopia or elsewhere. Ethiopia has failed miserably on both counts: It has no free and vibrant media, and it failed to hold a free and fair election.

 

Most people were suffocated by government propaganda, particularly in rural areas. In the run-up to this election, the government did everything to silence or bar all influential independent sources of information. It forced the closure of Addis Neger and terrorised other weeklies; furthermore, the ruling party jammed Voice of America and German broadcaster Deutsche Welle - the only sources of independent information for most rural Ethiopians. The ruling party controlled and used all ‘public’ radio stations and the only TV station solely for party purposes. On the other hand, a huge campaign of persuasion coupled with material benefits including promotions, scholarships and jobs was launched, supported by continuous propaganda.

 

In the meantime, in addition to insulating the public from independent sources of information, an organized campaign was under way to pressurize the public at a family level to side with the ruling party. In some parts of the country, the ruling party spread messages of fear, to present itself as the only savior. This is particularly true among minority ethnic groups including Tigray, the base of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. There, his party exhorted people not to vote for the opposition by claiming that ‘if the opposition is elected, the people of Tigray could face attack by other groups, particularly Amharas …’. I don’t think a public so terrorized by such messages, and insulated from other independent sources of information, can vote without fear. This incident reminds me of the referendum our Eritrean brothers and sisters had in 1991, to vote for independence/freedom from Ethiopia; the choice on the card was to choose between ‘freedom’ and ‘slavery’.

 

Unfortunately, the Ethiopian media cannot play the role it should be playing because there is no conducive environment for such an exercise. The government media outlets, both print and broadcast have practically been turned into party propaganda machines such as are to be found in Communist North Korea or Cuba. Everything done by these media outlets is highly controlled by party people working at every level of news production and the production of commentaries.

 

The private or independent media is also crippled by internal and external constraints. Internally, most of the independent newspapers lack the capacity to provide quality and influential information. Their circulation is very small, and limited to the big cities. The few that have the potential to provide such quality information are restrained by fear and economic interests. As a result, they are too shy and apologetic in dealing with major issues of democracy and freedom of speech. It is very risky for an independent journalist/newspaper to share all views on the political sphere with readers. Entertaining the views of some opposition groups is criminalized by recently-approved laws.  Apart from this open criminalization of freedom of speech, a journalist or newspaper confronting the ruling elite and their near-hegemonic ideology can be listed as an ‘agent’ of ‘anti-peace/development…’ forces.

 

In general, Ethiopia’s political and legal framework does not enable the media to play a role in ensuring a free, fair and democratic election. This situation is the deliberate creation of the ruling party. There was no chance for the independent media to fulfill its role. Not only does the ruling party exercise full control over public media outlets, it is also creating and financing new pseudo-independent newspapers to force independent newspapers out of the market. The ruling party is consciously setting up these newspapers to address urbanites who don’t trust government outlets, and prefer to give the benefit of the doubt to ‘independent’ newspapers. They did it in 2005, and tried it in the run up to this election as well. These pseudo-independent papers may manage to create confusion among readers, but no trust at all. They publish internal discussions from the opposition party in these papers. It is well known that the papers are getting these reports from the security apparatus of the government - which uses sophisticated technology to infiltrate the high leadership of the opposition meetings.  

 

Media outlets, particularly online media, have the freedom to play a role. But their impact is limited by two factors: insignificant access to the Internet in Ethiopia, and lack of capacity and professionalism. One can gather relatively more independent information about Ethiopia online than through in-country sources. However, the online outlets are extremely polarized and politicized; when a website is moderate it tend to lack the capacity to provide comprehensive and timely information. As a result, most are rather opinion-oriented, and are aggregators. Only a few of them are managed by full time staffers, but those that are don’t have more than two staff.

 

Outlets based outside Ethiopia are the best sources of information for the Diaspora and for those with Internet access within Ethiopia.  Their main role has been entertaining the views of the opposition (as most of them side against the government), providing a few very limited news items, and finally, aggregating.

 

On the election date, nonetheless, a few websites played an instrumental role in following up on the process and updating the public. Addis Neger especially had a successful LIVE Election Day Blog covering most parts of the country. Two others, one belonging to an opposition party, also followed suit and had a live blog, but they were updated with far less frequency. Our Live Blog created a new sense of eagerness - both at home and abroad - to follow the process from an independent perspective, despite the fact that the result was a foregone conclusion. Our blog reports were in stark contradiction with those of government and affiliated sources.

 

Therefore, I can see a good future for media outlets, such as Addisnegeronline.com, managed from outside Ethiopia, if they can gather support that allows them to have a functioning presence at home.

 

- May 28, 2010 by Mesfin Negash

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Source: www.freemedia.at/regions/africa/singleview/4967/ (accessed on 31.05.10)