Media of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Media in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are both nationally and internationally state owned and operated.

Freedom of speech and the press

While the constitution provides for freedom of speech and the press, the government has restricted this right in practise. Arrests, murders and other harassment of journalists is frequently reported.

In 2009, the freedom of the press global ranking released each year by Reporters Without Borders ranked the Democratic Republic of the Congo at 146 out of 175 countries.[1][2]

There are several organizations monitoring freedom of the press in the Democratic Republic of the Congo:

"Coupage"

Many journalists in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are subjected to the practise of coupage (in English: cutting), where journalists are paid to write articles on behalf of persons who are the article's actual subject.[3][4] Press independence remains stifled. There are two significant impacts from this practise:

  • it affects the principle of remuneration of some journalists, enabling the Congolese print media to make it difficult for journalists to earn a living from legitimate journalism alone;
  • it makes it easier to bribe the press, as much for partisan articles as for articles containing generally neutral information.

Print

Major newspapers are only nominally privately owned. Journalists must be members of the state-controlled union to practise their profession. The press today is firmly under MPR control. The largest dailies were Elima, Courrier d’Afrique, and Salongo (fr) (10,000).

The majority of print press publications are in French, an official language of the country. Despite their ambitions of national news coverage, it is difficult for these publications to attain broad coverage, both due to challenges in gathering information, and in physically distributing the publications. Many journalists are therefore tied to a city or a region, essentially Kinshasa.

Several daily newspapers are published, of which the majority have a pro-government bias. Some newspapers are published irregularly.

Daily publications
NameCirculation
Alerte Plus?
L'Avenir (RDC)3,000
Demain le Congo?
Elima (RDC)[5]1,000
L'Éveil (RDC)1,000
Forum des As?
Le Messager Africain?
L'Observateur?
Le Palmarès (RDC)1,000
Le Phare (RDC)[5]2,500
Le Potentiel[5]2,500
La Prospérité?
La Référence Plus (RDC)5,000
La République (Congo-Kinshasa)?
Le Soft international?
La Tempête des tropiques?
UHURU550
Journal Congopress?
Bi-Weekly publications
NameCirculation
La Cité africaine (RDC)1,000
La Manchette?
Le Climat Tempéré (RDC)1,200
Le Révélateur1,000
Salongo1,000
Journal Congopress1,000
Weekly publications
NameCirculation
L’Alerte?
Le Collimateur?
La Conscience?
L'Éveil (RDC) ?
La Flamme du Congo?
La Libre Afrique?
Kin Telegraph?
Mukuba?
Le Peuple?
Umoja?

Telecommunications

The postal, telephone, and telegraph services are owned and operated by the government. In 2002 there were an estimated 10,000 mainline phones in use nationwide. In 2003 there were an estimated 19 cell phones in use for every 1,000 people. State-controlled radio and television transmissions, operated under Radio-Television Nationale Congolaise (RTNC), are the prominent broadcasting stations, reaching the largest number of citizens. The RTNC radio broadcast of La Voix du Congo, is available in French, Swahili, Lingala, Tshiluba, and Kikongo. There are also many privately run broadcasting stations. In 2001, there were 3 AM and 11 FM radio stations and 4 television stations. In 2003, there were an estimated 385 radios and 2 television sets for every 1,000 people.

Television

Since 1990 many television stations have been broadcasting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2006, 58 television channels were available. Of these, 38 are in Kinshasa.[6]

Television stations

List of television stations
  • Action Missionnaire d'Évangélisation des nations TV
  • Africa TV
  • Antenne A, à Kinshasa
  • Canal Congo Télévision (CC TV)
  • Canal Kin Télévision (CKTV)
  • Canal Tropical Télévision (Tropicana TV)
  • Congo Education Broadcasting System (CEBS)
  • Couleurs Télévision
  • Congo Web TV
  • CMB TV
  • Musique Various & Le T.P. O.K. Jazz
  • Digital Congo TV
  • GKV Network Television (GKV) in Mbanza-Ngungu, Lower Congo
  • Global TV
  • Horizon 33
  • Mirador TV
  • Numerica
  • Nyota TV, in Lubumbashi, Katanga
  • Nzondo TV
  • Planète TV
  • Radio Télé Puissance (RTP)
  • Radio Télévision Armée de l'Éternel
  • Radio Télévision de la Voix de l'Aigle
  • Radio Télévision Dieu Vivant (RTDV)
  • Radio Television Groupe Avenir (RTG@)
  • Radio-Télévision Kasangulu (RTKAS), in Kasangulu, Bas-Congo
  • Radio Télévision Kimbanguiste
  • Radio Télévision Kintuadi
  • Radio Télévision Wantanshi (RTW)
  • Radio Télévision Message de Vie (RTMV)
  • Radio-Télévision nationale congolaise (RTNC) : RTNC1, RTNC2, RTNC3, RTNC4, RTNC Bandundu, etc.
  • Radio Télévision Nyota (RTN)
  • Radio Télévision Sango Malamu
  • Radio Télévision Sentinelle
  • Raga TV, Raga+
  • Solar Energy
  • Télévision Kin Malebo
  • Télé France Kinshasa : www.tfktv.com
  • Radio Télé Mwangaza in Lubumbashi, Katanga

Radio

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has many radio stations, the majority of which are based in Kinshasa. The transitional Constitution installed an entity called Haute autorité des Medias (HAM), which oversees media activity, including radio broadcasting.

It is estimated that 60% of broadcasts are in the four national languages: (Kikongo, Lingala, Swahili, Tshiluba). The rest are in French and, rarely, in English.[7]

Radio stations

Lists of radio stations
Public stations
  • RTNC, national radio with regional broadcasts
Humanitarian stations
  • Radio Okapi, national coverage with regional broadcasts
Community stations
  • Radio Réveil FM, in Kinshasa and Radio Reveil Afrika in Lubumbashi
  • Radio Communautaire de Muanda (RCM), in Muanda
  • Radio Communautaire de Mbanza Ngungu (Radio NTEMO), in Mbanza Ngungu
  • Radio Evangélique de Muanda (RTEM), in Muanda
  • Radio Télé Boma (RTB), in Boma
  • Radio Osase, in Tshumbe (Kasai)
  • Radio Bangu (rb) in Kimpese
  • Radio Ntomotosono in Luozi
  • Radio Adri à Madimba
  • Radio Maendeleo in Bukavu
  • Radio Bubusa FM in Mugogo/ Walungu
Private stations
Religious stations

See also

References

  1. ↑ Reporters sans frontières  : Classement mondial 2009 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-10-23. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
  2. ↑ Reporters sans frontières
  3. ↑ Munkeni Lapess Rigobert, « Phénomène du "coupage" en RDC », Panapress
  4. ↑ Commission de l'immigration et du statut de réfugié du Canada, « République démocratique du Congo (RDC) : information sur un journal appelé NUMERICA publié à Kinshasa, notamment sur un article intitulé « La famille n'a plus revu Géraldine Ndundu depuis plus de six mois » paru dans son édition no 664 du 22 février 2005 et sur l'existence d'un journaliste dont les initiales sont « A. B. » (2005-avril 2006) », 21 avril 2006, COD101230.F
  5. 1 2 3 "Democratic Republic of the Congo: Media and Publishing". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  6. ↑ (in French) Élections RD Congo RDC : à chaque candidat sa télé Archived 2008-12-08 at the Wayback Machine. - Infosud.be
  7. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-11-27. Retrieved 2012-11-25. Aménagement linguistique dans le monde : RDC

Bibliography

  • "Democratic Republic of the Congo: Directory: the Press". Africa South of the Sahara 2004. Regional Surveys of the World. Europa Publications. 2004. p. 300+. ISBN 1857431839.
  • Jonathon Green; Nicholas J. Karolides (2005). "Democratic Republic of Congo". Encyclopedia of Censorship. Facts on File, Inc. ISBN 978-1-4381-1001-1.
  • "Democratic Republic of Congo", Freedom of the Press, USA: Freedom House, 2016, OCLC 57509361
  • "Democratic Republic of Congo Profile: Media". BBC News.
  • Karen Fung, African Studies Association (ed.). "News (by country): Congo-Kinshasa". Africa South of the Sahara. USA – via Stanford University. Annotated directory
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