Chad’s National Media Environment continues to be stifled, while International Groups Look to engage on the Local Level

Chad's media environment reflects a political system that has been manipulated and controlled since 1989 by autocratic leader Idris Deby and his Patriotic Salvation Movement party's elite. Working through the High Communication Council (HCC) and the Ministry of Commerce, the Deby regime is able to influence the actions of privately-owned media through high licensing costs, physical and verbal repression and judicial manipulation. Given that coverage of national events is so highly politicized, media development initiatives have focused mainly on journalism training at the local level and the support of community media outlets.

Critical Media Containment

The HCC, which has nine members (three representatives of the media and six political appointees) can close outlets that publish material critical of the government. After a coup attempt in February 2008 that reached the capital N’Djamena, the government empowered the HCC to ban reporting on sensitive subjects. Up until recently Chad’s media environment has largely been governed by the so-called Decree No. 5 increased the maximum penalty for false news and defamation to three years in prison and the maximum penalty for insulting the president to five years. It also requires permission from both the federal prosecutor’s office and the HCC to establish a newspaper; previously it was only necessary to register with the Ministry of Commerce. Separately, the HCC banned reporting on the activities of rebels and any other information that could harm "national unity."

Although Chad’s constitution grants citizens freedom of expression and free media, this is certainly not the reality that independent journalists face. A “state of permanent fear” is how journalist Evelyne Fakir with Radio Nationale described Chad’s media environment when interviewed by IREX. Fakir further explained that the problem of government control was not with licensing per se, but with pressure over editorial content and management. There have been a number of documented instances of the harassment and arbitrary arrest of journalists and editors by local and federal officials.

Other journalists have also spoken of how self-censorship and the threat of libel has affected reporting, especially of military activities. Kalde Lwanga Dingamnaël, reporter and editor-in-chief for Radio Soleil noted, “Journalists are not sufficiently free to cover military-related events. Reporters’ safety is not guaranteed.” Another IREX interviewee, Djourtangue Amas, added that, “Key issues are addressed more prudently to avoid libel lawsuits or other trouble from the country’s security services.” [1]

Repeatedly, journalists or editors are forced flee the country in order to avoid arrest after breaking a published taboo. A recent instance involved the privately-owned weekly La Voix, which began publishing in just May 2009. The newspaper’s troubles with the government first began in September of 2009 when it published an article about embezzlement at the Bank of Central African States. Within six weeks the newspaper’s editor, Innocent Ebodé, a Cameroonian national working legally in Chad, was expelled in an attempt to gag the publication. [2]

Government officials proceeded to attempt to shut down the publication under the pretense that it did not have an editor, with a court eventually ordering the confiscation of all issues of the publication in December. It was not until 6 January that a higher court found La Voix ‘not guilty’ of charges against it and lifted the provisional order for automatic seizure of all copies of the paper. [3] Due to actions such as this, the press freedom watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres ranked Chad 132 out of 175 countries in its Press Freedom index. [4] Due to a recent rejection by Chad’s National Assembly of a Deby government proposed press law, Decree No.5 is ostensibly no longer force and the Law No. 29 of 1994 has been reinstated. Even though the proposed government bill was rejected, the repressive nature of the bill gives little confidence that the Deby government will now loosen its hold on the media.

Limited Media Availability

Apart from the region surrounding N’Djamena, consumers have few news and entertainment options. Radio is the predominant information source other than word-of-mouth sources. Beyond the state-run Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne (RNT), there are a little over a dozen privately-owned and operated radio stations and based around N’Djamena. Many of these stations are run by nonprofits and have a limited broadcast range.

Interestingly, the October 2009 survey used in this analysis indicates that in the more densely populated areas where there is competition between private and state stations, Chadians prefer the privately-run stations. However, for the 73 percent of Chadians living in rural areas where there is little to no domestic radio competition, RNT is the most popular radio station.

The newsprint industry is under similar constraints, limited by Chad’s high levels of poverty and illiteracy. Newspaper also struggle to find advertising and a sufficient means of distribution. Due to Chad’s economic troubles, there is only a small market for advertising. The main advertisers are the country’s two mobile service providers. The state’s media laws technically offer subsidies to private media outlets, but they are often misappropriated or confiscated by officials within the HCC. Newspapers, like radio, are largely restricted to the capital area.

The market for printing newspapers is also quite limited. While there are a number of small operations, the Chad Printing house has an effective monopoly over the printing of the most popular newspapers. [5] Reportedly one of shareholders of the printing house is the minister of communications. The presence of a monopoly in printing and the limited market for advertisers has made newspapers financial vulnerable, especially those who may raise the ire of the ruling government.

The government-run Tele Tchad leads the television market in viewership, as it is the only terrestrial station licensed by the government. The channel broadcasts in both French and Arabic. All other competing channels are obtained through a satellite connection, which tends to be priced well out of reach for most Chadians.

Supporting Institutions and Media Development Efforts

Much of the media development efforts that have been implemented in recent years have focused on journalist training or bolstering community media outlets, including those that inform refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). Chad lacks a formal journalism school and degree program, though the University of N’Djamena does offer communications coursework within its Department of Language and Literature. Otherwise, journalists with professional training received it abroad.

A professional association called MédiaExcel offers short training sessions for both young people looking to pursue the profession and for industry veterans. In recent years, international NGOs have stepped up their efforts in providing training for journalists for both state-run and private radio stations. In late 2009, the Research and Technological Exchange Group (GRET) partnered with Canal France International (CFI) and Fondation France Presse to offer training sessions on covering election campaigns, in preparation for the planned November 2010 elections.

Over the past two year, international NGO Internews has worked on establishing a radio production studio and training center in Ndjamena. In fact, prior to its official opening, the production studio was ransacked during the attempted coup in February of 2008. Internews continues to provide training opportunities for radio journalists. The stories produced by these journalists have focused on key development topics such as child protection against Malaria, AIDS, and child marriage.

Internews’ activities in N’Djamena come after extensive work in Chad’s eastern regions where there has been an influx of Darfur refugees and displaced Chadians. During its work there, Internews built up three community stations- Radio Absoun, Radio Sila, and La Voix Du Ouaddai. They aim to inform the thousands of refugees and IDPs who live in camps and their surrounding areas of news that directly affects their survival such as information on security, water distribution and food rations. Internews and the local journalists who primarily run these stations have also begun to tackle some of Chad’s more taboo subject matters including gender-based violence and child marriage.

In March 2008 the U.S based NGO the Academy for Educational Development (AED) began its implementation of comprehensive multi-year peace building and development program in Chad, Niger and Mauritania. The USAID-funded project is described by AED as a regional counter-terrorism initiative seeking to offset the potential for violence and extremism through integrated activities in governance, the empowerment of youth and using media as a tool for delegitimizing violence that specifically target marginalized populations. This large program is an example of a counter-terrorism strategy that seeks to use peace building to diffuse inter-communal political or economic conflicts which may cause greater instability or violence.

Several aspects of the program focus on the importance of inter- and intra-community engagement between local governments, civic and religious groups and community media. This includes development of community radio infrastructures and locally-produced youth and governance programming. AED's Chad subcontractors Africare and Equal Access are identifying job opportunities for unemployed youth and providing training as necessary.  They will also promote interfaith dialogue and improved communication and access to information by strengthening community and private radio stations.

In addition, AED 's “Bridge Media” approach is working to promote tolerance and peace building efforts by having local media and civil society actors jointly produce media programs. The Bridge Media approach is a peace building measure where AED deploys media professionals with conflict mediation experience to work with local media, namely community radio, and civic organizations in areas of inter-communal strife. The programming that results from the Bridge Media process normally comes in the form of reality TV, soap operas, or documentaries. Within Chad, program activities are  taking place in the N’Djamena, Kanem, Bahr El Ghazal, and Batha regions.

[1] “Media Sustainability Index 2008: Chad”. International Research and Exchanges Board. Washington, DC. Accessed June 2010. http://www.irex.org/programs/MSI_Africa/2008/chad.asp.

[2] “Cameroon journalist expelled for bogus reasons”. Reporters Sans Frontieres. 15 October 2009. Accessed June 2010. http://en.rsf.org/chad-cameroon-journalist-expelled-for-15-10-2009,34712.

[3] “Court lifts sanctions against weekly La Voix”. Reporters Sans Frontieres. 7 January 2010. Accessed June 2010. http://en.rsf.org/chad-court-lifts-sanctions-against-07-01-2010,35106.html.

[4] “Press Freedom Index 2009”. Reporters Sans Frontieres. Paris, France. Accessed June 2010. http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2009,1001.html

[5] IREX.