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Reporters Without Borders Annual Report 2003 - Djibouti

With state-owned media entirely under the thumb of the government and privately-owned newspapers that are financed and run by the opposition, the people of Djibouti are poorly informed and turn to the international media.

Press freedom does not yet exist in Djibouti. The state maintains its monopoly of the broadcast media and controls them very closely. Journalists working for the state-owned radio and TV broadcaster, RTD, have absolutely no room for manoeuvre and just relay official propaganda.

There are no independent news media. The few newspapers that are not controlled by the government are little more than bulletins put out by the various opposition parties.

To escape the extremely partisan national press, the local population and foreign residents have no other choice but to turn to the international radio stations with FM relays in Djibouti such as the BBC, Radio France Internationale (RFI) and, since December 2002, the Voice of America (VOA).

Topics: Freedom of expression,