Papers by Mulatu Alemayehu A Moges
Journal- , 2024
Ethiopia has been in a new transition since 2018 which resulted in changes in political arenas. I... more Ethiopia has been in a new transition since 2018 which resulted in changes in political arenas. In this period, the country has also been experiencing internal conflict and political instability. This article
assesses how the political environment is convenient for
journalists to freely report stories, and how journalists practice
their professional roles which have not yet studied. The article
used both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The
qualitative data was collected through in-depth interviews with
key media practitioners. The quantitative data was collected
through a self- administered questionnaire from selected 164
journalists from the public, and private media in the country. The
result shows journalists’ freedom and practicing their profession
in reporting stories from different views in the current unstable
situation in the country are highly challenged. Among the
respondents, more than 65% confirmed that they are not free to
report stories; 95% of the sampled journalists either self-censor or
ignore stories about conflicts and other critical issues in the
country. The journalists are highly pressurized by the government
and other actors who have ardent interest in controlling media to
propagate their agenda and in silencing the critical voices. This
put journalists to stack between a rock and a hard.
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African Journalism Studies, 2023
This study is aimed at analyzing journalists’ organizational working perceptions in the Ethiopian... more This study is aimed at analyzing journalists’ organizational working perceptions in the Ethiopian local media. The study covered six branches of Amhara Media Corporation (AMC). It applied explanatory sequential mixed research in the course of a survey, in-depth interview, document analysis and observation instruments. To gauge the levels of organizational trust (OT), organizational commitment (OC), job satisfaction (JS), social exchange (SE) and economic exchange (EE), a questionnaire survey was distributed to 220 randomly chosen respondents. Besides, in-depth interviews were conducted with eight purposefully selected media practitioners. The study’s theoretical framework integrates the organizational theories of OT, OC, JS, SE and EE with the hierarchy of influences model. The findings revealed the levels of journalists’ OT, OC and SE were moderate and their levels of JS and EE were high and low, respectively. Except for the working stream, journalists’ OT level is unaffected by demographic and biographic variables. This study concludes journalists perceive AMC’s organizational working atmosphere as partially positive, but the professional practice of journalism faced significant challenges and influences from the ownership it bases and establishes. The media managers are intentionally and directly assigned in AMC to maintain the political hegemony and status quo of the ruling party.
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Athens Journal of Mass Media and Communications, Jul 21, 2021
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Information, Communication & Society, Jun 24, 2021
It is evident in this study that the social media sphere which has been highly controlled by the ... more It is evident in this study that the social media sphere which has been highly controlled by the Ethiopian government for a long seems to untie right after the advent of the new political reform co...
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Springer eBooks, 2022
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Social Science Research Network, 2017
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Journalism Practice
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Informing the mass is one of the fundamental roles of the media universally. This role becomes vi... more Informing the mass is one of the fundamental roles of the media universally. This role becomes vital during conflicts and wars because their interventions are either in de-escalating or in escalating the violence and situation in the volatile areas. Many scholars agree conflict is inevitable and now becoming parts of life. The problem will be when the conflicts do not go on to the predetermined directions. In changing the conflict either of the direction (good or bad result), media play their own role. Peace-oriented scholars described that the responsible journalists in media institutions are aspiring to play the positive role in transforming conflicts to resolution. However, these journalists are facing internal and external challenges. This essay is, therefore, attempts to discuss the media intervention in conflict situations and their challenges in peacebuilding and peace promotion. By exploring the challenges of the media in conflict reporting, there can be large possibilities ...
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Journal of Data Mining & Digital Humanities
With the expansion of mobile communications infrastructure, social media usage in the Global Sout... more With the expansion of mobile communications infrastructure, social media usage in the Global South is surging. Compared to the Global North, populations of the Global South have had less prior experience with social media from stationary computers and wired Internet. Many countries are experiencing violent conflicts that have a profound effect on their societies. As a result, social networks develop under different conditions than elsewhere, and our goal is to provide data for studying this phenomenon. In this dataset paper, we present a data collection of a national Twittersphere in a West African country of conflict. While not the largest social network in terms of users, Twitter is an important platform where people engage in public discussion. The focus is on Mali, a country beset by conflict since 2012 that has recently had a relatively precarious media ecology. The dataset consists of tweets and Twitter users in Mali and was collected in June 2022, when the Malian conflict bec...
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Cogent Arts & Humanities
The study aims at investigating the interplay between the ethnic identity politics and journalist... more The study aims at investigating the interplay between the ethnic identity politics and journalists’ role perceptions in contemporary Ethiopian media landscape. Professional roles are a key topic in journalism research along with the fundamental elements in defining journalism as a profession because they suggest and provide insights about the environment surrounding the journalists. Based on the analytical model of journalism culture and social identity theory (SIT), the article draws on qualitative interviews of journalists from the perspective of six media channels along with media and communication scholars to argue that the country’s ethno-political context shapes the media environment, which in turn influences how journalists perceive their roles. Accordingly, promoting ethno-centric identity and culture, becoming guardians and advocates for ethnic communities, mainstreaming the regional politics and hegemony, and considering themselves as struggle activators and change agents were found to be the most remarkable institutional role perceptions of journalism in the current Ethiopian media system.
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Journal article , 2023
The study aims at investigating the interplay between the ethnic identity
politics and journalist... more The study aims at investigating the interplay between the ethnic identity
politics and journalists’ role perceptions in contemporary Ethiopian media landscape. Professional roles are a key topic in journalism research along with the fundamental elements in defining journalism as a profession because they suggest and provide insights about the environment surrounding the journalists. Based on the analytical model of journalism culture and social identity theory (SIT), the article draws on qualitative interviews of journalists from the perspective of six media channels along with media and communication scholars to argue that the country’s
ethno-political context shapes the media environment, which in turn influences how journalists perceive their roles. Accordingly, promoting ethno-centric identity and culture, becoming guardians and advocates for ethnic communities, mainstreaming the regional politics and hegemony, and considering themselves as struggle activators and change agents were found to be the most remarkable institutional role perceptions of journalism in the current Ethiopian media system.
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Cogent Social Sciences
This study aimed at examining journalists’ organizational trust by focusing on the relationships ... more This study aimed at examining journalists’ organizational trust by focusing on the relationships to the predictor variables of organizational commitment, job satisfaction and socio-economic exchanges at Amhara Media Corporation (AMC). Data were collected from self-administered report scales of 250 full-time employed journalists in the head office and across six branches of AMC in Ethiopia. The result of multiple regression analysis showed there were statistically significant associations of organizational trust with commitment, social exchange and job satisfaction positively and with economic exchange negatively. The higher levels of organizational commitment and social exchange journalists experience in AMC are associated with higher levels of organizational trust. Journalists’ job satisfaction had a minimum impact on their organizational trust. The economic exchange journalists had in AMC did not determine their level of trust. Further, the result of parallel mediation analysis conducted using the Hayes PROCESS macro model showed organizational commitment and organizational trust were fully mediated by social exchange and job satisfaction. Journalists with high organizational commitment were likely to have higher levels of social exchange and job satisfaction indicating a culture of high levels of social exchange and job satisfaction are more likely to lead to trust in the media organization.
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SSRN Electronic Journal, 2021
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Handbook of Communication for Development and Social Change, 2020
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Essachess : Journal for Communication Studies, 2017
: This article examines the extent to which journalists of The Daily Monitor and The Ethiopian He... more : This article examines the extent to which journalists of The Daily Monitor and The Ethiopian Herald report on internal conflict, especially ethnic conflicts, which were prevalent during the study period, from 2005 to 2013, in Ethiopia. These two English medium dailies newspapers were purposely selected due to their high circulation and longevity in the media market as well as their focus on current affairs. The study employed both content analysis and interviews data collection and process in tools. The result shows that only a small number of internal conflict stories were reported in the selected newspapers and journalists were found to prefer refraining from reporting ethnic conflicts. This is attributable to the fact that journalists live in the circle of fear and self-censorship resulting in the exclusion of ethnic-related conflict stories in the selected media. Keywords: internal conflict, Ethiopian media, fear and self-censoring, omission, silence *** Resume: Cet article ex...
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Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 2013
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SSRN Electronic Journal, 2015
This working paper is the first of a series of three and examines how Ethiopians in Ethiopia and ... more This working paper is the first of a series of three and examines how Ethiopians in Ethiopia and the diaspora are using social media to talk about politics, religion, and ethnicity. After illustrating the methodological choices that have been made to understand engagement and antagonism in the Ethiopian online sphere, the report suggests how and to which extent, despite the limited penetration and polarization that has characterized the media in Ethiopia, social media seems to have offered new opportunities for experimentation across divides.
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SSRN Electronic Journal, 2017
Ethiopia and its people have been experiencing internal conflicts that cause many deaths, destruc... more Ethiopia and its people have been experiencing internal conflicts that cause many deaths, destruction of properties and other tragedies. The major conflicts, which have been different in formations, intensities and natures, were ethnic, religion, National Power / Regional Predominance (NP/RP), and Other minor incidences. Among several causes for these internal conflicts in the country, its internal political instability and scarce resources, its historical paths, its geographical location, and the current fundamentalism of religion in the Horn of Africa can hold the major ones. By taking those types of internal conflicts as cases, and 2005 to 2013 as a sampled period, this dissertation examines how the Ethiopian local newspapers, namely Addis Admas, Reporter, The Daily Monitor, and The Ethiopian Herald have been dealing with those cases. These newspapers are purposively selected as they have been circulated for many years, interested in the deal with critical issues and current affairs, have relatively large number of circulation in the country. By setting three main research questions, such as to what extent they do cover the internal conflicts, how they do frame the stories, and what the challenges do they face during reporting the cases are studied in this dissertation. The study answered these questions by using data collection and analysis instruments, such as content analysis, textual analysis, and interviews. The content analysis was used to look at the extent of the internal conflict stories appearing in the selected newspapers. The textual analysis was also employed to look at how the newspapers frame the internal conflicts. The interview was in placed in the study to make sense of how the reporting on the selected newspapers the way they are. The study was supported by agenda setting, symbolic annihilation and framing theories. While the former and the latter were employed to develop the tools of the study, identifying the problems, and support the discussions. The symbolic annihilation however was used to discuss the data. The study reveals that the internal conflict reporting in the selected Ethiopian newspapers were not only minimal in number but also tended to make silence of the cases, by ignoring some of the issues or facts of the events in the stories. The two frames that are identified in the study reflect that the texts try to hide some of the important elements of the events of the internal conflicts. The study also identifies that the Ethiopian journalists in general, and in the selected newspapers, in particular, have been facing challenges mainly in relation to ownership, fear and self-censorship and pressures, which lead the reporters to compromise their professional integrity while reporting cases of internal conflicts. Based on the findings, the study also outlines possible practical and theoretical implications in the media studies.
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This report looks into the issue of media and ethnicity in contemporary Ethiopia. As anyone can w... more This report looks into the issue of media and ethnicity in contemporary Ethiopia. As anyone can witness, there have been immense changes in the local media situation since Dr. Abiy Ahmed assumed leadership in April 2018. In just two years, the country has improved its ranking on Reporter Without Borders’ Press Freedom Index by 51 places, which is the greatest leap of any country anytime – by far. There is a lot to celebrate. At the same time, the press situation in the country is deeply dis-concerting. The reason for this is that the media landscape is as polarized as never before, and that parts of the media are being blamed for playing a pivotal role in the turbulence which have erupted in various parts of the country since 2019. The suspi-cion of many people is that the media are being exploited to propagate an ethnic agenda.
Towards this backdrop, the intention of the study is to examine the role of the media in ethnic tensions in contemporary Ethiopia. The methodology is twofold, combining in-depth interviews with framing analysis. For the interview part, we have met approximately 25 persons with key positions in all major parts of the media in the country. For the framing analysis, we have scrutinized the media coverage of eight crucial incidents between 2018 and 2020 in ten different media outlets.
We argue that the tendencies we’re observing in the media can be described as an intensified ethnification process. By this we mean that ethnic belonging and identity politics are gaining significance as central frames of reference in the current Ethiopian media discourse. Ethnicity is being employed as a key to interpret media messages, and it outlines a frame for classi-fying media channels and personalities. We identify two major frames, annihilation and othering, which are indicative of the tendency of journalists to align with their ethnic background. We also find that many media practitioners are deeply con-cerned about the developments. Research data point towards a more pluralistic media society in Ethiopia (albeit segmented pluralism), but also significantly more polarization. The polarization is fuelled by ethno-nationalistic media of different origin and ownership, vis-à-vis pan-Ethiopianist channels. The previous stronghold of the federal state media (EPRDF-supportive) has been overtaken by a fragmented state media structure with growing significance of regional mass media agencies. Journalists are beginning to form alliances along regional and ethnic fault lines, as illustrated by the launch of Am-hara Journalists Association, Oromia Journalists Association, Tigray Journalists Association, and so forth. Journalists are highly inclined to use sources which support their own ideological interest, and avoid quoting sources from other ethnicities which could balance the story. When it comes to professional ideals, various channels practice a hybrid reporting style which blends acknowledged standards with an interventionist or activist agenda. We argue that ethnic and political agendas are at risk of being at odds with media professionalism.
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Papers by Mulatu Alemayehu A Moges
assesses how the political environment is convenient for
journalists to freely report stories, and how journalists practice
their professional roles which have not yet studied. The article
used both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The
qualitative data was collected through in-depth interviews with
key media practitioners. The quantitative data was collected
through a self- administered questionnaire from selected 164
journalists from the public, and private media in the country. The
result shows journalists’ freedom and practicing their profession
in reporting stories from different views in the current unstable
situation in the country are highly challenged. Among the
respondents, more than 65% confirmed that they are not free to
report stories; 95% of the sampled journalists either self-censor or
ignore stories about conflicts and other critical issues in the
country. The journalists are highly pressurized by the government
and other actors who have ardent interest in controlling media to
propagate their agenda and in silencing the critical voices. This
put journalists to stack between a rock and a hard.
politics and journalists’ role perceptions in contemporary Ethiopian media landscape. Professional roles are a key topic in journalism research along with the fundamental elements in defining journalism as a profession because they suggest and provide insights about the environment surrounding the journalists. Based on the analytical model of journalism culture and social identity theory (SIT), the article draws on qualitative interviews of journalists from the perspective of six media channels along with media and communication scholars to argue that the country’s
ethno-political context shapes the media environment, which in turn influences how journalists perceive their roles. Accordingly, promoting ethno-centric identity and culture, becoming guardians and advocates for ethnic communities, mainstreaming the regional politics and hegemony, and considering themselves as struggle activators and change agents were found to be the most remarkable institutional role perceptions of journalism in the current Ethiopian media system.
Towards this backdrop, the intention of the study is to examine the role of the media in ethnic tensions in contemporary Ethiopia. The methodology is twofold, combining in-depth interviews with framing analysis. For the interview part, we have met approximately 25 persons with key positions in all major parts of the media in the country. For the framing analysis, we have scrutinized the media coverage of eight crucial incidents between 2018 and 2020 in ten different media outlets.
We argue that the tendencies we’re observing in the media can be described as an intensified ethnification process. By this we mean that ethnic belonging and identity politics are gaining significance as central frames of reference in the current Ethiopian media discourse. Ethnicity is being employed as a key to interpret media messages, and it outlines a frame for classi-fying media channels and personalities. We identify two major frames, annihilation and othering, which are indicative of the tendency of journalists to align with their ethnic background. We also find that many media practitioners are deeply con-cerned about the developments. Research data point towards a more pluralistic media society in Ethiopia (albeit segmented pluralism), but also significantly more polarization. The polarization is fuelled by ethno-nationalistic media of different origin and ownership, vis-à-vis pan-Ethiopianist channels. The previous stronghold of the federal state media (EPRDF-supportive) has been overtaken by a fragmented state media structure with growing significance of regional mass media agencies. Journalists are beginning to form alliances along regional and ethnic fault lines, as illustrated by the launch of Am-hara Journalists Association, Oromia Journalists Association, Tigray Journalists Association, and so forth. Journalists are highly inclined to use sources which support their own ideological interest, and avoid quoting sources from other ethnicities which could balance the story. When it comes to professional ideals, various channels practice a hybrid reporting style which blends acknowledged standards with an interventionist or activist agenda. We argue that ethnic and political agendas are at risk of being at odds with media professionalism.
assesses how the political environment is convenient for
journalists to freely report stories, and how journalists practice
their professional roles which have not yet studied. The article
used both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The
qualitative data was collected through in-depth interviews with
key media practitioners. The quantitative data was collected
through a self- administered questionnaire from selected 164
journalists from the public, and private media in the country. The
result shows journalists’ freedom and practicing their profession
in reporting stories from different views in the current unstable
situation in the country are highly challenged. Among the
respondents, more than 65% confirmed that they are not free to
report stories; 95% of the sampled journalists either self-censor or
ignore stories about conflicts and other critical issues in the
country. The journalists are highly pressurized by the government
and other actors who have ardent interest in controlling media to
propagate their agenda and in silencing the critical voices. This
put journalists to stack between a rock and a hard.
politics and journalists’ role perceptions in contemporary Ethiopian media landscape. Professional roles are a key topic in journalism research along with the fundamental elements in defining journalism as a profession because they suggest and provide insights about the environment surrounding the journalists. Based on the analytical model of journalism culture and social identity theory (SIT), the article draws on qualitative interviews of journalists from the perspective of six media channels along with media and communication scholars to argue that the country’s
ethno-political context shapes the media environment, which in turn influences how journalists perceive their roles. Accordingly, promoting ethno-centric identity and culture, becoming guardians and advocates for ethnic communities, mainstreaming the regional politics and hegemony, and considering themselves as struggle activators and change agents were found to be the most remarkable institutional role perceptions of journalism in the current Ethiopian media system.
Towards this backdrop, the intention of the study is to examine the role of the media in ethnic tensions in contemporary Ethiopia. The methodology is twofold, combining in-depth interviews with framing analysis. For the interview part, we have met approximately 25 persons with key positions in all major parts of the media in the country. For the framing analysis, we have scrutinized the media coverage of eight crucial incidents between 2018 and 2020 in ten different media outlets.
We argue that the tendencies we’re observing in the media can be described as an intensified ethnification process. By this we mean that ethnic belonging and identity politics are gaining significance as central frames of reference in the current Ethiopian media discourse. Ethnicity is being employed as a key to interpret media messages, and it outlines a frame for classi-fying media channels and personalities. We identify two major frames, annihilation and othering, which are indicative of the tendency of journalists to align with their ethnic background. We also find that many media practitioners are deeply con-cerned about the developments. Research data point towards a more pluralistic media society in Ethiopia (albeit segmented pluralism), but also significantly more polarization. The polarization is fuelled by ethno-nationalistic media of different origin and ownership, vis-à-vis pan-Ethiopianist channels. The previous stronghold of the federal state media (EPRDF-supportive) has been overtaken by a fragmented state media structure with growing significance of regional mass media agencies. Journalists are beginning to form alliances along regional and ethnic fault lines, as illustrated by the launch of Am-hara Journalists Association, Oromia Journalists Association, Tigray Journalists Association, and so forth. Journalists are highly inclined to use sources which support their own ideological interest, and avoid quoting sources from other ethnicities which could balance the story. When it comes to professional ideals, various channels practice a hybrid reporting style which blends acknowledged standards with an interventionist or activist agenda. We argue that ethnic and political agendas are at risk of being at odds with media professionalism.
attack from powerful bodies.
This comprehensive study presents an overview of the development of the media and media freedom in Ethiopia, following political reforms introduced by the government since 2018.
UNESCO Addis Ababa took this opportunity in early 2019 to initiate a nationwide assessment of the environment in which the media work, using the UNESCO Media Development Indicators (MDI) framework. This was one of UNESCO’s engagements with the Ethiopian government,
including the organization of the Global World Press Freedom Conference 2019 hosted in Addis Ababa jointly with the African Union (AU), following the announcement of the reforms.
The UNESCO MDIs were drawn up to gauge a wide spectrum of media development and performance, with the ultimate objective of determining specific needs, guiding the formulation of media-related policies and improving the targeting of media development. In accordance with the MDI framework as applied in many other countries worldwide, this report
looks at five major areas: 1) the system of media regulation, 2) media plurality and diversity, 3) the role of media as a platform for democratic discourse, 4) professional capacity building and 5) infrastructural capacity.
The study was undertaken by a team of researchers from Addis Ababa University, with a national multi-stakeholder advisory team guiding the process. The bulk of the research was conducted in late 2019 and early 2020, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict that broke out in the northern part of Ethiopia in November 2020. Nevertheless, the major findings of the research and the recommendations continue to have resonance for the future.
The study depended primarily on the qualitative data collected from relevant legal and other documents and from in-depth interviews with over a hundred key media stakeholders in Ethiopia, as well as on additional quantitative research. The national stakeholders, primarily through the multi-stakeholder oversight team, validated the findings and the recommendations.
International experts also provided inputs on the drafts, in addition to the UNESCO team at headquarters and in Addis Ababa who closely followed and provided the necessary quality control at all stages of the work.
By taking those types of internal conflicts as cases, and 2005 to 2013 as a sampled period, this dissertation examines how the Ethiopian local newspapers, namely Addis Admas, Reporter, The Daily Monitor, and The Ethiopian Herald have been dealing with those cases. These newspapers are purposively selected as they have been circulated for many years, interested in the deal with critical issues and current affairs, have relatively large number of circulation in the country. By setting three main research questions, such as to what extent they do cover the internal conflicts, how they do frame the stories, and what the challenges do they face during reporting the cases are studied in this dissertation. The study answered these questions by using data collection and analysis instruments, such as content analysis, textual analysis, and interviews. The content analysis was used to look at the extent of the internal conflict stories appearing in the selected newspapers. The textual analysis was also employed to look at how the newspapers frame the internal conflicts. The interview was in placed in the study to make sense of how the reporting on the selected newspapers the way they are. The study was supported by agenda setting, symbolic annihilation and framing theories. While the former and the latter were employed to develop the tools of the study, identifying the problems, and support the discussions. The symbolic annihilation however was used to discuss the data.
The study reveals that the internal conflict reporting in the selected Ethiopian newspapers were not only minimal in number but also tended to make silence of the cases, by ignoring some of the issues or facts of the events in the stories. The two frames that are identified in the study reflect that the texts try to hide some of the important elements of the events of the internal conflicts. The study also identifies that the Ethiopian journalists in general, and in the selected newspapers, in particular, have been facing challenges mainly in relation to ownership, fear and self-censorship and pressures, which lead the reporters to compromise their professional integrity while reporting cases of internal conflicts. Based on the findings, the study also outlines possible practical and theoretical implications in the media studies.