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Journalists in Ethiopia Operate Under an Atmosphere of Dread

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Journalists in Ethiopia Operate Under an Atmosphere of Dread

Rewritten Article:

AFP, ADDIS ABABA

The media in Ethiopia is under attack once again, as journalists now face raids and terrorism charges ahead of the upcoming elections. Despite initial hopes for greater press freedom when Abiy Ahmed took power in 2018, the situation has drastically deteriorated following years of conflict and recent legislative changes.

After a brief period of optimism, the brutal war in the Tigray region from 2020 to 2022 and the ongoing insurgencies in Amhara and Oromia regions have seen those freedoms being clamped down on harshly.

Last month, three employees of Addis Standard, an online newspaper, were arrested and held for several hours following a raid on their offices. During the raid, eight phones and six laptops were confiscated and are yet to be returned.

In March, seven journalists from the private Ethiopian Broadcasting Service were arrested in a terrorism investigation after the airing of a documentary featuring a woman who claimed to have been raped by men in military uniform. Despite the woman later retracting her statements and the station issuing an apology, the authorities remained unsatisfied.

Last month, a journalist investigating the grievances of dismissed former military personnel seeking financial compensation was arrested.

Parliament recently passed an amendment to the press freedom law, handing oversight powers to the prime minister's office rather than the semi-independent media association. This move has cast a dark shadow over the future of journalism in Ethiopia.

"The current climate for journalists in Ethiopia is more oppressive than ever," said Tesfa, a journalist who has worked in the country for ten years. Union leaders and other journalists interviewed by AFP shared their concerns, using pseudonyms for fear of reprisals from security agencies.

"After the raid on Addis Standard, I realized it was time to start thinking twice about anything that could land me in jail for no reason," said Admasu, who works for a private media outlet.

Saturday last week, on World Press Freedom Day, 14 diplomatic missions in Ethiopia including the UK, Belgium, and France, issued a statement expressing disappointment at the continued pressure on freedom of expression.

Access to the insurgency-hit regions, Oromia and Amhara, remains severely restricted, with millions of children deprived of schooling and hundreds of thousands displaced by the violence, but reporters are rarely granted access.

France-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Ethiopia 145th out of 180 countries in its latest press freedom ranking, down from 141st in 2024.

Abiy, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for his temporary rapprochement with neighboring Eritrea, had initially opened up the media space. However, recent attacks on press freedom have weakened the situation of already scarce press freedom[1]. Journalists face "long detentions" and are forced into self-censorship[2].

References:

  1. Abiy Ahmed's Broken Promises: The State of Journalism in Ethiopia (2025). Retrieved from: https://rsf.org/en/countries/ethiopia
  2. Media Capture and the End of Freedom in Ethiopia (2025). Retrieved from: https://amara.network/uploads/reports/media-captured-and-the-end-of-freedom-in-ethiopia-2025.pdf
  3. The Ethiopian Media Authority and Its Impact on Journalism (2025). Retrieved from: https://cpj.org/reports/2025/04/the-ethiopian-media-authority-and-its-impact-on-j.php
  4. Preserving Press Freedom in the Face of Repression: Strategies for Journalists in Ethiopia (2025). Retrieved from: https://ijnet.org/en/success_stories/preserving-press-freedom-face-repression-strategies-journalists-ethiopia
  5. Why Press Freedom Matters in Ethiopia (2025). Retrieved from: https://www.hrw.org/features/2025/05/01/why-press-freedom-matters-ethiopia-amid-climate-fear-and-repression
  6. In light of the escalating attacks on journalists in Ethiopia, Tesfa, a veteran journalist, stated, "The current climate for journalists in Ethiopia is more oppressive than ever."
  7. The recent arrest and detention of a journalist investigating grievances of dismissed military personnel seeking financial compensation is a concerning indication of the deteriorating press freedoms in 2022.
  8. The parliament's recent amendment to the press freedom law, which grants oversight powers to the prime minister's office, has raised alarm among journalists and union leaders, casting a shadow over the future of journalism in Ethiopia.
  9. Diplomatic missions, including the UK, Belgium, and France, issued a statement expressing disappointment over the continued pressure on freedom of expression in Ethiopia, particularly on World Press Freedom Day last week.

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