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The Ethiopian Media Authority plans to amend the advertising law to increase the ad ratio of total newspaper and magazine content from 60 percent to 80 percent, while reducing the total amount of advertising in one hour of broadcast. for state broadcasters the existing 12 minutes.
The existing advertising law prohibits print media from dedicating more than 40 percent of its publication to non-advertising content, including news, articles and opinion pieces, while the rest goes to commercials.
“This is outlined in the new media policy and is aimed at strengthening the print media industry,” said Gizaw Tesfaye, senior adviser to the Authority.
During a panel discussion held in the presence of stakeholders at Capital Hotel last Tuesday, participants praised the Authority’s decision, citing the closure of many media outlets over the past decade due to financial constraints.
Currently, there are 13 newspapers and 12 magazines owned by private companies. Another 13 state-owned newspapers and 10 magazines are in circulation, according to the new media policy application.
Although it proposes to increase the advertising participation of print media, the Authority is working to reduce the 12 minutes of commercials allocated by public broadcasters by one hour. However, the exact number of minutes to be allocated to commercials has yet to be decided.
This is to prevent unfair competition in the market and to distribute commercials among broadcasters, sources say. It is also expected to avoid current practices whereby government institutions post commercials only on state-owned broadcasters.
“Such amendments, which will be implemented based on the new media policy, will help ensure fair competition between the public and commercial media,” said Gizaw.
In February 2021, Parliament passed a new media law that will govern print, broadcast and online media. In addition, it allows foreigners to invest in the media industry, although their share must not exceed 25 percent.
