an international broadcaster down
and voting day announced
Hi there,
I spent most of last week at the International Press Institute’s World Congress and Media Innovation Festival.
Highlights of the trip included running into some friends at the three-day event. Special shout-out goes out to Ivor Price, who runs Food For Mzansi Group, a (wildly successful) digital news start-up on and about agriculture in South Africa. But as Ivor likes to point out, they don’t just talk about agriculture over there; they talk about politics, finance, lifestyle, and everything in between. Check them out!
Lowlights include me walking straight into the glass door of my hotel on day 2.
My name is Maya Misikir, and I’m a freelance reporter based in Addis Abeba. I write Sifter, this newsletter where I send out the week’s top 5 human rights stories in Ethiopia.
Now, to the news.
Media: coming for the international broadcasters
Reporters for the German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) have been suspended from working in Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian media regulatory body announced the decision to suspend DW’s Amharic service reporters (nine of them) last Wednesday.
Why?
Here’s an excerpt from DW’s English service:
The letter from the EMA does not contain any concrete allegations, but broadly accuses DW of violating media proclamations and disseminating unbalanced and conflict-aggravating reports that “lack reliable sources.”
DW’s Amharic service has been operating since 1965.
The full story, here.
Law: the vague answers we’re used to
Parliamentarians had a lot of questions for representatives of the Ministry of Justice last Thursday.
One of their concerns was on, ‘anti-trafficking measures’, which some members found, ‘insufficient compared to the scale and complexity of the problem’.
Here’s an excerpt on another concern that was raised during the session:
‘… a representative cited audit findings that suggest limited public and government finances—which are expected to support development—have been increasingly misappropriated by individuals within various government institutions.
The state minister present at the session stated that, ‘there will be no specific responses given’ but that it would be addressed ‘through follow-up action’.
The story, which includes several other issues raised by parliamentarians, on The Reporter, here.
Migration: the reasons people leave
Last year, from the 446,000 people who had left the Horn of Africa, through the Eastern route, the migration route from hell, 96 percent were from Ethiopia.
A third of them were Tigrayans, according to the latest story from The Continent. This is already a high number, but considering that ‘Tigrayans make up only 6% of Ethiopia’s population’, it gets even more stark.
Here’s an excerpt from the story:
Today, Tigray is broken. Its leaders are divided, some aligning with Addis Ababa, others with Eritrea. Another war looms, one that could pit Tigrayans against each other.
I fought once to defend my people; I will not fight again in a war that will destroy what remains. That is why I left.
The story follows the life of a Tigrayan, a former ‘junior government official’ turned fighter, who has now decided to leave Tigray behind.
The full story, here.
Elections: setting a date
Earlier this month, the president announced to parliamentarians that the 7th national election would be held during this Ethiopian year. The National Election Board of Ethiopia has now proposed a date for voting day: June 1, 2026.
Voter registration for the elections is expected to take place between February 8 to March 10, according to a report on Ethiopia Insider.
The results of the election are set to be announced on June 10.
More detailed updates coming soon at Sifter: Election, a dedicated pop-up newsletter on all things Ethiopian election. Sign up and stay updated!
The full story, with details on other relevant dates (including campaign dates and announcement of running political parties) on Ethiopia Insider, in Amharic, here.
Media: reporting in Tigray isn’t getting any easier
The war in Tigray ended in November 2022, two years after it started. The region, post-conflict, still remains a difficult place for journalists.
An armed takeover of a radio station, a camera crew held at gunpoint, and a warning from the region’s ruling party to media outlets have been some of the events that have taken place this year.
Here’s an excerpt from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ):
Mathewos Gebrehiwot, a journalism lecturer at Mekelle University, told CPJ that many reporters had quit because of the war and they were no longer organizing themselves to lobby for press freedom, with untrained activists filling the news vacuum online.
The full report from CPJ, which details the power struggle in the region behind this, here.
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