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Draft Report Triggers Debate On Media Lidetu Criticizes Private MediaAddis Ababa, Jan 30, 2009 (The Daily Monitor/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- Senior government officials and Opposition MPs reviewing the draft APRM report debated issues surrounding media access for information and usage during the run up to the May 2005 election campaigns. The government officials and the opposition MPs were holding the last part of the review of the APRM report to assess Ethiopia's performance on four major sectors, namely democracy and political management, economic management, corporate management and socio-economic development management. The meetings being held since last week at different venues in the capital begged for a consensus among the stakeholders-government and opposition- but alas, it only provided ground for contention between the ruling party and opposition politicians. And the part of the report on the role of the media, "particularly the talk of the vibrant media environment" in the country was something the opposition couldn't pass up. Opposition MPs discussing the issue, apart from expressing discontentment over the role of the media-state and independent media alike-during the elections, said the country's media was weak in many respects. Leading politician and opposition MP Lidetu Ayalew, for one, said the scope and volume of the Ethiopian media was far from being diverse and adequate and not in line with the country's social cultural and historical dynamism. "There is not even a single privately owned television station, nor a short wave radio. The country does not have any up-to the -standard electronic media in private sector even after 17 years of freedom of speech" he said implying that the opposition was not in a position to propagate as it wished during the 2005 general elections. He said he totally disagrees with the notion that the Ethiopian media played a constructive role neither before the elections, nor post the elections that prompted the infamous media crack down which saw the imprisonment of independent journalists and the banning of a number of private papers. But he admitted the opposition it self had problems with the way it utilized the limited publicity by the state media. "The opposition parties themselves did commit mistakes while they used media in earlier campaigns on top of the high restrictions imposed up on them by the ruling party," he said of his fellow opposition politicians. "While we are preparing for the national elections and by-elections, we, the opposition, had problems: We refused the invitation to use the air time at state media," he added. He also indicated that the EPRDF had claimed much airtime during the 2008 by-election more than double the opposition parties needed. Speaking on the overall quality of the Ethiopian media, Lidetu said poor standard had compelled viewers and listeners to resort to foreign media such as the Voice of America (VOA) and the German Doche Welle, not to mention the proliferating Satellite news and entertainment channels. This is the result of frustration and detest for the Ethiopia TV and radio programs. Lidetu also pointed his finger on private media which he said should share the responsibility for the falling standards of journalism in Ethiopia. "In not less than the public media, the private media have their own ugly problems" he said with out stating the kind of problems with the private media. Since Lidetu deserted the then prominent opposition party-Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) parity- the media reacted unfairly and was critical of his decision to quit as back issues of some local press can reveal, some people say. One of the MPs who commented on media said" "Though media access is constitutional right, the media has a serous barrier." "It should be expanded with out any restriction," he strongly recommended adding, that explained why people shun the state media. Following from opposition parties' comments and criticism, high government officials-among them ministers, state ministers, House speaker reacted on much of the claims by the opposition. "The media airtime should be allocated for every party based on its seats in the parliament. We shouldn't see problems related with professions and institutional structure as if it were the government's problems," Teshome Toga speaker of the house defended. Teshome laughed at Lidetu's comment on the growing trend of satellite dish users in much of towns. "I personally have my own satellite dish in my house. I usually watch whatever I would like to watch. I hope many do so the same. That doesn't mean people do not watch ETV totally," Teshome retorted. One of the participants representing the newly established Government Communication Office to be headed by Bereket Simon, former Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, said in defense of the state media, that it was appropriate for a "developmental state" to promote development and disseminate success stories which aim to motivate others to follow suit. "This government is developmental government. That is why our media should gear at declaring and promoting development. Our media should tell the public success story which is rare in Africa. We don't need it to show us any sensational story." He also criticized the opposition's naivety in boycotting the state media which could have helped them to prompted their programs and build their images. |