Hi there,
I read Dan Oshinsky’s newsletter about…newsletters (classic). It’s called the Inbox Collective, and he always provides helpful tips and guidance on running newsletters. Last week, he interviewed Priti Patniak, who runs Geneva Health Files, and asked her how she avoids burnout.
Here’s one tip she shared: “The goal is to get shorter breaks every now and then as opposed to long breaks, which is difficult because I’m also working on the business.”
I’ve taken this as a sign to enjoy things in between all the work, instead of waiting for the long break (which seems quite unrealistic at this point). I hope that’s helpful to you as well.
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.
Press freedom: the Ethiopian journalist, an enigma?
The Worlds of Journalism Study (WJS) — a phrase I find surprisingly hard to remember — is the ‘largest research’ that assesses the state of journalism across the world.
In this year’s edition, Ethiopia was one of six sub-Saharan countries to be included. Overall, it assessed 75 countries worldwide.
The report on Ethiopia included 75 media outlets, both state-owned and private, and surveyed 363 participants, including yours truly.
So what has it found?
Here’s an excerpt from the report:
The typical Ethiopian journalist is male, 37 years old and works for a state-owned media organization. He has a BA degree in journalism and earns 19,000 birr per month (143 US dollars). He is Orthodox Christian and regards his faith as ’extremely important’.
Worth noting here that the report says that ‘female journalists are underrepresented in the survey’, (the sampling consists of only 25.1% women).
In comparison to the results from 2017 (the last wave where Ethiopia was also sampled), Ethiopian journalists are older and more experienced. In 2017, the average age was 29, and this has increased to 36. The years of experience have jumped from four to seven. Yet despite this, the ‘historical memory in Ethiopian newsrooms is short’ it adds.
What else?
In terms of payment, private media houses were paying their journalists more than their state-owned counterparts. This is reversed now, according to the report. But because part-time contracts are more common in private media houses, journalists there end up making the same amount from other work (hello communications consultancy, my old friend).
Under what conditions do Ethiopian journalists work?
This includes a lot of factors, including a sense of professional autonomy (‘remarkably low’), and influences on newsrooms (editorial policies, and media laws are high on this list).
What about political influence? Here’s an excerpt:
Ethiopian journalists in the 2020s rate the influence by government officials and politicians even higher than in 2017. Only one country, Turkey, rate government influence as more severe than Ethiopia.
And safety? At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Ethiopia is ‘one of the five most worrisome countries’ for journalists, according to safety indicators, which include arrest and legal action.
From the female journalists surveyed in the WJS, 10.5% say ‘they experience sexual harassment often or very often’. In July, I had shared another report here done specifically on women journalists in Ethiopia, which pointed out that there was a lack of understanding of what constitutes sexual harassment. Here’s a quick reminder:
Interviewees would say that they haven’t faced any ‘sexual harassment’, but, after a few follow-up questions, they would describe treatment that falls under this category.
Considering that the WJS survey is based on a questionnaire, I wonder how this might have affected the responses.
The report indicates that journalists in Ethiopia believe that, from the 27 other options given, promoting peace and tolerance is the most important role in their work.
This stands in contrast to other reports, based on media monitoring, which have shown that, ‘Ethiopian journalists are highly inclined to use sources which support their own ideological interests’.
The full report from the WJS research, entitled, Ethiopian journalists in the 2020s: Who they are, how they work and what they think, here.
Press freedom: should we just count our blessings?
Getting back to present-day situations, last week, a journalist from Ethiopia’s Tigray region, Nile Weldegiorgis, was arrested while on a trip to Addis Abeba.
She was released after six days in police custody, according to an update from Wegahta Facts.
In the previous edition of Sifter, I wrote an update about two other journalists who were released after more than 10 days in detention, during which time no one knew of their whereabouts or who had taken them.
While the release of journalists from detentions is always welcome news, it would be cool if there were also some accountability for these acts.
The Ethiopian Mass Media Professionals Association (EMMPA) says that these arrests are happening outside the due process of law and that disappearing journalists is unlawful, even if they are suspected of committing crimes.
The update on Wegahta Facts, here, and the statement from the EMMPA, in Amharic, here.
Security: we don’t know her (XLVIII)
The conflict in Ethiopia’s Amhara region, now past its second year, has forced 4.1 million students out of school.
The region’s education bureau says that it plans to enroll 7.4 million students this academic year, according to a story on Addis Standard. The keyword here is ‘plans’.
Last academic year, the ‘plan’ was to enroll seven million students. In reality, only 2.8 million students were registered, as fighting continues between the federal government and Fano, the informal militia operating in the region.
Here’s an excerpt:
Teachers and school leaders continue to face threats, including kidnapping, murder, and displacement. “The education bureau is deeply saddened that teachers are being targeted simply for teaching,”…
The full story, on Addis Standard, here.
This is the 48th update on the region since August 2023, when the conflict first started. You can access the full list here.
Law: keeping up with the revisions
The draft Freedom of Access to Information Proclamation is under final review. The latest draft places procedures that make it harder, ‘for members of the media and ordinary citizens seeking access to public records’, according to a story on The Reporter.
Here’s an excerpt:
A large part of the latest draft is dedicated to articles on classified information, including ongoing court cases, health records, individual and property-related information, and third-party information.
Intelligence, security, and military information and documents are off limits. This includes information related to military operations, personnel, weaponry, positions, and other categories.
The draft also removes the establishment of an ‘information commission’, which was initially written in.
An anonymous expert cited in the story says that this was an intentional decision, as it ‘would force the government to provide information, and would have been ideal for the most significant freedom of access to information improvement in Ethiopia’s history.’
The full story on The Reporter, here.
Tigray: new report on displaced communities
Internally displaced people in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, ‘remain vulnerable to forceful evictions, direct attacks, and harassment,’ says a new study by the Commission of Inquiry on Tigray Genocide.
Here’s an excerpt from a story on Addis Standard:
The survey, which gathered responses from 3,380 participants, revealed alarming patterns of human rights abuses among displaced populations.
The Commission said it has recorded 1,748 deaths, 915 cases of enforced disappearance, and 1,656 instances of physical injury.
These figures highlight the acute vulnerability of IDPs, with killings identified as the most prevalent form of harm.
The full report, which looks into the shelter conditions of displaced communities, security concerns around illegal migration, and people living with chronic diseases, here. The story on Addis Standard, based on this report, here.
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thank you, My. this work is so important. thank you so much for amplifying Ethiopian matters and voices. we love you.