Ethiopia Media and Telecoms Landscape Guide - Infoasaid

12Furthermore, few rural areas have electricity and Ethiopia’s mountainous terrainensures that in most parts of the country, the geographical reach of each transmitteris quite limited.In addition to ERTA, the government runs eight regional mass media agencies.These provide regional radio and TV services from the following cities:Adama (also known as Nazret) (Oromia)Addis AbabaBahir Dar (Amhara)Dire Dawa (Dire Dawa)Harar (Harari)Hawassa (also spelt Awassa) (SNNPR)Jijiga (Somali)Mekele (Tigray)Oromia Mass Media Agency is the largest regional broadcaster in Ethiopia.According to the 2011 ERIS Media Mapping survey, it employs nearly 200 full-timejournalists and about 100 part-timers.The government maintains a complete monopoly on television broadcasting, but ithas licensed a handful of private radio stations.The largest of these are Fana Radio, based in Addis Ababa and Dimtsi WeyaneTigray (DWET), based in Mekele, the capital of the northern Tigray region.However, both these stations are controlled by interests close to the ruling EthiopianPeople’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) party.Three genuinely private FM radio stations exist in Addis Ababa, but they all steerwell away from critical news reporting that might upset the government.Since 2008, the government has also set up nine community FM radio stations invarious small towns across the country.These are partly funded by the government, partly by advertising and partly bydonations from various organizations and individuals.In most parts of Ethiopia, state radio and TV are the only sources of broadcastinformation available.Two international radio stations broadcast to Ethiopia in Amharic on Short Wave;Voice of America (VOA) and Germany’s Radio Deutsche Welle.The government has been accused of jamming both stations.