Quest for Press Freedom

This book is about press development and freedom in Ethiopia, with a focus on the state media. It examines the political and social situations of the monarchy era, the Marxist military regime, and the current ethnic federalist regime, and analyzes the effects they had on the media.

Meseret Chekol Reta taught in the Department of Journalism at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls until his death in November 2012. He received his Ph.D. in mass communication and from the University of Minnesota, where he also received two master's degrees: one in mass communication and the other in political science. In the 1980s he served as a radio journalist for eight years in his native Ethiopia. For the past few years, Dr. Reta has been a frequent guest on the Amharic Service of Voice of America, commenting on various issues including press freedom in Ethiopia and U.S. electoral politics. In 2007 he co-founded and served as president of the Ethiopian Biographical Resource Center, a project that records biographical information on prominent Ethiopians who have made significant contributions to Ethiopia.

Preface Acknowledgments Abbreviations Glossary General Introduction Part One-The Media in the Pre-Occupation and Occupation Periods (1901-1941) 1 Transition from Traditional to Modern Forms of Mass Communication 2 The Media During the Reign of Emperor Menelik II 3 The Media During the Pre-Occupation Period (1913-1936) 4 The Media During the Occupation Period (1936-1941) Part Two-The Post-Occupation Period: Institutionalization of the Media (1941-1974) Introduction 5 The Print Media 6 Hurdles Against Professionalism 7 Broadcast Media 8 The Ethiopian News Agency 9 Legal and Administrative Controls over the Press 10 The Media in the Last Days of the Monarchy Part Three-The Media in the Era of Revolution (1974-1991) Introduction 11 Print Media 12 Broadcast Media 13 Ethiopian News Agency 14 The Law, the Press, and Professional Association Part Four-The Media in the Age of Ethnic Federalism (1991-) Introduction 15 Print Media 16 Broadcast Media 17 News Agenc