The mass media of communication, having acquired an increasingly economic, sociocultural and political character, in the ultimate analysis, pose a challenge to the functioning of democracy. Adekunle 7 precolonial political system 7 colonialism, democracy, and change 8 independence and nascent democracy 140 the genocide and political change 141 media freedom 142 corruption, culture, and change 144 economic freedom 145 religious freedom 146 women in politics 148. Freedom house has rated ethiopia as not free since 2011. According to this argument, the mass media in a stable democracy are the principal institutions from.
Pdf new media and the developmental state in ethiopia. Request pdf democratic roles and challenges of the private media in ethiopia this paper examines how the ethiopian private media are. The very nature of democracy suggests that free and open communication, through a variety of channels, is necessary to foster critical practices found in democratic societies. Accordingly, the media are entrusted the role of promoting development, democracy and good governance and a new journalism model, i. The mass media and the struggle for democracy in africa 185 manners of misrule meted on the african population by indigenous military leaders and in some cases in conjunction with western imperialist class. Expanding ethiopias democratic space aspirations, opportunities, choices contributions by. Media law in ethiopia download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. The empirical support for each element in the theory, as well as for the integrated model as a whole, is discussed in an appendix. Ethiopia is undergoing a transition set off by the 2018 appointment of prime minister abiy ahmed, who came to power after prime minister hailemariam desalegn resigned the face of mass protests at which demonstrators demanded greater political rights.
The supposed and the real role of mass media in modern. He held interviews with key informants, as well as conducted focus group discussions in ambo, waliso, gerar jarso, north shewa, walenchiti, east shewa, arsi and jimma. The democracy in ethiopia when we compare to its past history. But the putative linkage between the two factors should have been subjected to logical and empirical interrogation. Media and democracy in ethiopia aauetd addis ababa. In the early ad century, an emperor of ethiopia, yekuno amlak, had subjugated moslems in ethiopia. Ethiopia s human development index score has steadily increased over the past decade, but its participation and human rights score has remained stagnant.
Problems and prospects for democracy by alemante g. In particular, it considers the proliferation of diverse new media platforms including. Ethnicity, democratisation and decentralization in ethiopia 83 the researcher made several field trips to several woredas districts of the oromia region for data collection. Media is the common communication channels or apparatus that are used to store or supply information or data.
Mohamed salih andreas eshete and samuel assefa november 2018 this publication is the outcome of a conference jointly organized by the friedrichebertstiftung ethiopia fes and the united nations economic commission for africa uneca in september 2018. Media and freedom of expression assessment ethiopia in transition. Ims carried out two missions to ethiopia to addis ababa and adama in the period 3. In 2008, ethiopian authorities presented a draft policy document which established development journalism as the official reporting style for the state media. Conflict and the role of the media 5 part one part one conflict, the modern world and the media conflict is one of the defining features of the modern world. The coalition of opposition parties and some individuals that was established in 2009 to oust at the general election in 2010 the regime of the tplf, meles zenawis party that has been.
On revolutionary democracy, see jeannicolas bach, abyotawi democracy. Since the end of the cold war there have been countless conflicts that have involved the deaths of millions of people and the suffering and displacement of millions more. The result of the study revealed that the ethiopian private media are not properly carrying out the democratic roles that they are expected to play owing to both. Ethiopia, at 105 million people the secondlargest country in africa, took an important step away from its authoritarian past on 5 february 2019. Journalism and elections in times of disinformation. Click download or read online button to get media law in ethiopia book now. It could universally be agreed that the form of government that is ideal and preferable to any other forms is democracy. The ruling ethiopia peoples revolutionary democratic. That day, parliament adopted new and more liberal legislation on civil society groups to replace a decadeold, highly repressive law that had targeted the work of humanrights advocates and other defenders of a free society. Media, participation and constitutionmaking in ethiopia. Front eprdf in its notable second reform app raisal held in. However, politicians in different parts of the world try to control the media.
The study of the medias relation with the political system is a burgeoning area of inquiry in comparative media studies. The major military, if not the political, forces responsible for the demise of the dictatorship known as the. In a relatively short period of two decades, ethiopia has successfully shifted from a unitary state to a federal system, established a fledgling democracy, and achieved a relatively high economic growth rate. The worldwide commemoration theme concerns the current. Whatever the future holds, it is clear, as bengurion predicted, that freedom of criticism has in fact tested ethiopia. A key takeaway from the 20 papers presented at the symposium was the tension between the successful application of social media to strengthen advocacy for democracy in africa and the challenge of ensuring that social media users are genuinely digitally empowered. A case study on democratization in ethiopia since the implementation of. I possibly the vital factor in the functioning of a democratic system is a democratic attitude. After years of repression, ethiopias media is free and fanning the flames of ethnic tension a man walks by a newsstand in addis ababa, the capital. It is either related with communication media or specialized mass publishing communication operations such as the print publisher, advertising, broadcasting radio and television, cinema, photography, and the press. Lahra smith political violence and democratic uncertainty in. World press freedom day 2019 media for democracy journalism and elections in times of disinformation concept note global conference addis ababa, ethiopia may 2019 on 3 may 2019, unesco will celebrate the 26th edition of the celebration of world press freedom day in almost 100 countries.
Although a number of african countries, including ethiopia, mozambique. While introducing the 2011 nepads aprm report for ethiopia the then prime minister meles zenawi said. Some scholars exclusively emphasize one ideology or the other but not necessarily the continuities that sustained domination. The media in a stable democracy are considered the principal institutions from which members of the public can better understand their society.
Selassie in may 1991, the much hated and brutal militarymarxist dictatorship that traumatized ethiopians for seventeen years was finally overthrown. Sadly, proponents of revolutionary democracy in ethiopia frequently engage in this fallacy. Communicating for development and democratization in ethiopia. Ideally, democracy and media coexist and support each other through a process of negotiation hopefully aimed at developing a consensus about the public interest. The ethiopia democracy and its challenges and achievements. Abiy has pledged to reform ethiopias authoritarian state, ruled by the ethiopian peoples revolutionary democratic front eprdf since 1991. The africa media quickly took up the responsibility and constituted itself in. Chief components of any strategy are shaping the legal enabling environment, strengthening constituencies for reform, removing barriers to access, training, and supporting capitalization of media. It is widely argued that a free media system independent of political interference is vital for flourishment of democracy. Therefore, the major objective of this article is to fill this knowledge gap by studying the performances and challenges to economic development and democracy in ethiopia. Uncompetitive elections and repressive laws on antiterrorism, civil society, and the media have been used to entrench the eprdfs authoritarian rule, effectively eliminating opposition parties and independent news outlets and stifling all forms of dissent. New media and the developmental state in ethiopia article pdf available in african affairs 1451. The mass media and the struggle for democracy in africa.
In the first part of the article, i outlined the major policy framework constraints that prevented the emergence of well functioning system of good governance in ethiopia. Best practices are detailed for each of these issues. Africas democratic process by focusing on the role of the media as a way of taking. The government of ethiopia and humanitarian partners released the 2016 humanitarian requirements document hrd for ethiopia on december 11.
It is a causative fallacy to argue that because b follows a, a is the reason for b. How social media shaped calls for political change in ethiopia a look at ethiopias new prime minister abiy ahmed, and the hope for media reform. Ethiopias media landscape is heavily statecontrolled, and dominated by amhariclanguage publications and broadcasts focused on events and issues in the capital. While election of new leadership of the ruling party has brought forth a surge of optimism in most quarters that democratic space will expand, stability is still fragile as ethnic and identitybased conflict prevails. The policy prescribes that the media and journalists should play an active role in the. The relations between the media and political system in. A discussion among experts on the state of ethiopias political landscape, the role and importance of independent media, and the challenges. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. Democracy is preferable because it gives an opportunity for the people to participate in decisionmaking that affects their.
Political pressure groups include the council of alternative forces for peace and democracy in ethiopia cafpde beyene petros and the southern ethiopia peoples democratic coalition sepdc beyene petros. The reality, however, is that the media in new and restored democracy do not. Ethiopia human rights report 28 june18 laramie, wyoming. The aim of this study is to look into the role of the media in promoting human rights by analysing how bbc one panorama documentary, chocolate. A symbiotic relationship between media and politics is hard to find in. The uses and abuses of social media in africa democracy. Democracy, human rights, and governance ethiopia u. Ethnicity, democratisation and decentralization in. Professor smiths research focuses on citizenship in contemporary african states, ethnic identity, and political conflict. The second and last part of the article attempts to sort out the major challenges that have prevented the realization of good governance in ethiopia during the reign of eprdf in the last two decades.
840 138 1167 1458 1284 735 1298 1120 1250 1067 684 22 360 851 536 1264 1482 846 1314 492 268 1355 1273 1479 1234 255 1127 165 1236 1412 1345