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International Freedom of Expression eXchange Clearing House
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Date: 18 November 1996

ANGOLA: MISA report assesses mass communication in Angola

ORIGINATOR: Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), Windhoek

Censorship and a host of other government controls are stifling
the growth of an independent media in Angola, a Media Institute of
Southern Africa study says. MISA's "Assessment of the Mass
Communication System in Angola", just released, says Angola's
liberal media laws have done little to promote an independent
media in the country.

"The media especially the state controlled radio and TV, are more
of a government mouth piece and do not give fair, balanced [and]
let alone critical comment on government conduct." The state,
which owns both national radio and television, the country's only
daily newspaper, as well as the news agency, has kept a heavy hand
over the media through controls that include direct censorship.

Self-censorship is also very common. "Angolan journalists are
lacking...in professionalism, and with exceptions they are
partial, tendentious and mediocre," the study cites a survey
respondent as saying. "Most journalists want to be seen to be
loyal to the  state, meaning, in fact, the ruling MPLA."

Carried out from July through September 1996, the study says that,
although government denies any interference, it has used
"editorial guidelines" to censor the state-owned media.

The study was designed to see how Angola, ravaged by years of
civil war, could benefit from the Media Development Fund, a new
MISA project. Control of the independent press, it says, is mainly
through government's hold over the only fully functional printing
press in the capital.

Journalists interviewed indicated government, as the printing
company's main customer, could bar it from producing newspapers
and journals it does not like. "Regular customers of this company
acknowledge the quality of the equipment and its staff but blame
them for never meeting their deadlines and for giving priority to
government orders."

The MISA study joins those in the Angolan media that have called
for the establishment of a printing press outside government
control. "In order to promote independent media, it is recommended
that a printing press run by an independent media trust be
started," it says.

Government subsidies have also allowed the state-owned media to
undercut the fledgling press and radio. This denies them vital
revenue. It says the January 1995 assassination of Ricardo de
Melo, of the bold and much acclaimed "Imparcial Fax", which had
been attributed to the state, was believed to have been designed
to silence media persons critical of the state. "The killing of
Ricardo de Melo, director of `Imparcial Fax'," says the study,
"was seen as politically motivated and as evidence that in the
present environment, press freedom is still lacking in Angola."

But, it is through a monopoly over the airwaves that the state
tries to and remain the most powerful manipulator of Angolan
public opinion. With the collapse of much of Angola's
infrastructure, national distribution of newspapers and other
reading material has become impossible. Production problems,
including power cuts, a lack of equipment and finance, have not
helped. The circulation of the national daily, "Jornal de Angola",
has fallen from some 70,000 shortly after independence in 1975 to
a meagre 4,000 in a country of about 12 million people.
Distribution, like that of most other publications, is limited to
Luanda.

With the publishing industry under severe strain, radio has become
Angola's most powerful medium. Control of all broadcasting,
however, remains a state monopoly.

Through state control of licensing, the government-owned National
Radio of Angola has remained the only country-wide broadcaster
through its monopoly over the medium and short wave bands used to
transmit over long distances.

Television broadcasting is also a state monopoly. State control is
here too, strong. "Some of the informants felt state
monopolisation of television and the restrictions on radio
activities, especially short and medium wave bands, is especially
bad for media development," says the study. The state-owned
National Radio of Angola also runs broadcasting stations in each
of the country's 18 provinces.

There are only four privately-owned radio stations in four major
cities, including Luanda. They are, however, limited to FM
transmission that does not carry very far and, according to the
study, their autonomy seems limited. "While the operators state
that they enjoy editorial independence, sceptics point out that
these stations are not really independent." It says the state has
in the past ordered at least two of the stations to put some
programmes off the air.

Training in government institutions is also seen as another tool
to control journalists and public opinion. The study says some of
those surveyed felt that journalism courses sponsored by the state
"tend to be ideologically biased, and do not emphasise fair,
fearless, objective and balanced reporting. As a result, there is
very little room for open and meaningful debate on national
issues."

The inadequate number of women in the Angolan media has also
denied it a proper gender balance. "There is very little women
participation in Angola. It is recommended that special efforts
must be made to bring women into the fold. To this end,
affirmative action programmes should be implemented to redress
gender imbalances," the study says.

The study urges the development of an "alternative" media in
Angola. This, it says, should help break government monopoly over
the print and broadcast media and enhance the quality of public
debate and opinion in troubled Angola. "What is needed now, more
than at any time, is to hear the many different views about the
situation in Angola," says the survey.

"It is the media that can be a vehicle of the culture of pluralism
and the existence of several publications would give the public
various viewpoints, cultivating in the long term, a climate of
informed public opinion," the study says. This could be vital to a
lasting peace.

The report on mass communications system in Angola was produced on
behalf of MISA by Fernando Lima and Monageng Mogalakwe. It is
available from MISA Secretariat and costs USD 24, postage
inclusive. Contact MISA, Private Bag 13386, Windhoek, Namibia,
tel:+264 61 232975, fax:+264 61 248016, e-mail:
dlush@ingrid.misa.org.na, research@misa.org.na.

The information contained in this press release is the sole
responsibility of its originator.
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___________________________________________________
Bruce Girard
Agencia Informativa Pulsar
Email: bgirard@pulsar.org.ec
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