By Mekonnen Teshome
Addis Ababa (March 14, 2024) : Editors Guild of Ethiopia (EGE) has launched a new web portal that allows the media body to monitor and document various harassments and abuses against journalists in Ethiopia.
According to EGE statement released in connection with the portal, the new platform, sojethiopia.org
, the support ofUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),is a dedicated tool that aims at providing real-time monitoring and reporting of incidents affecting women journalists across Ethiopia.
In a message read out at the unveiling of the portal, Director of UNESCO Addis Ababa liaison Office to AU, UNECA and Representative Office to Ethiopia Dr. Rita Bissoonauth said: “The Web Portal promises to provide critical and immediate support to media workers facing danger and provide essential data for further advocacy. Additionally, the portal prioritizes enhancing the safety of women journalists.”
Board Chairman of the Editors Guild of Ethiopia Ferew Abebe also underscores :”The launch of sojethiopia.org marks a significant milestone in our collective efforts to safeguard press freedom and protect the rights of journalists in Ethiopia.”
The web portal that accommodates three languages – Amharic, Afan Oromo, and English – will serve as a comprehensive resource centre, providing real-time updates and alerts on violence incidents targeting journalists and gender-based violence against women journalists, the statement stated.
“Through a user-friendly interface, journalists, media organizations, and concerned citizens can access vital information, including incident reports, safety advisories, and emergency contacts,” it indicated.
As to EGE, the portal will also serve as a vital tool in raising awareness, facilitating support, and advocating for the safety and well-being of women journalists in the country to safeguarding press freedom and promoting gender equality in the media.
To this end, the statement said, the platform signifies the determination to combat gender-based violence and create a safer environment for all media professionals.
As the number of incidents endangering the lives and freedoms of media professionals in Ethiopia is increasing, this innovative platform serves as a beacon of hope and solidarity for press freedom advocates and the portal aims at addressing the growing concerns surrounding the safety and security of journalists in Ethiopia, the statement underlined.
“Today also marks a significant milestone in Ethiopia’s media landscape with the launch of this pioneering web portal, which also serves to monitoring alerts of gender-based violence against women journalists in Ethiopia.”
According to Reporters Without Boarder (RSF), the media landscape under since 2018, remains very polarised and is characterised by opinion journalism to the detriment of reporting and fact-checking. It is, however, more open and pluralistic than under the previous government, and more than 200 once-banned media outlets are now allowed.
Most of the recent press freedom gains have been lost since Ethiopia became embroiled in ethnic conflicts and a civil war, RSF writes and added that Although a peace accord was signed in November 2022, journalists still fear reprisals.
For Ethiopia is striving to monitor and curb challenges to press freedom, sojethiopia.org stands as a beacon of resilience and solidarity, fostering a culture of safety and accountability within the media community.
Editors Guild of Ethiopia (EGE) is a membership-based association established on October 29, 2019, and officially registered by the FDRE Agency for Civil Society Organizations under the registrar number 4527.
The formation of the Guild was prompted by a thorough analysis of the existing gap within Ethiopia’s media landscape, where media house gatekeepers have remained the least organized and represented despite being the most vulnerable and frontline victims of threats in the media ecosystem.