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MSI Africa 2008

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Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Introduction

Overall Country Score: 1.73

Two years after the first free and transparent elections in 40 years, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is still racked by insecurity. In the northeastern part of the vast country, Congolese and foreign-backed rebel movements are still active, and natural resources are plundered in the absence of government control. Far to the west, in the capital Kinshasa, the hopes engendered by the election have largely faded, as President Joseph Kabila’s promises to fight corruption and promote governance have proven to be little more than rhetoric.

At the same time, the Congolese media have displayed the same combination of intense activity and financial struggle that has characterized their activities since the media landscape was opened up in 1990. The media, particularly private radio and television stations, spent much of 2008 competing amongst themselves to organize political debates, even in local languages. Yet their means of sustaining themselves continued to be almost nonexistent. State subsidies for 2007 and 2008, approved by the parliament, have not been disbursed.

Journalism remains a dangerous profession in the DRC. As of October 2008, three journalists and media professionals were imprisoned in the Kinshasa Penitentiary and Reeducation Center for “offenses against the chief of state,” among others. One of them, an assistant director with the small private channel GLOBAL TV, was also accused of “incitement to rebellion”—a crime that does not exist in Congolese law—simply for having been present when the special forces of the Congolese police attacked the station’s headquarters because it had broadcast the press conference of an opposition representative.

Radio and television stations close to the opposition were arbitrarily banned by the government, while those operating in the combat zones of the northeast often had to shut down for their own safety. The agency in charge of regulating state media decided to forbid the broadcasting of “news not confirmed by official sources and likely to discourage the armed forces and the nation” with respect to the resumption of fighting in the northeast.

Objective 1: Freedom of Speech

Score: 1.76

The panelists were unanimous in acknowledging that Congolese law provides abundant guarantees of free expression. They were equally unanimous in pointing out that those laws are seldom observed.

The preamble to the Congolese constitution refers to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Pact for Civil and Political Rights, and Articles 23 and 24 establish freedom of expression and the right to information. In addition, Law No. 96/002, passed in 1996, which concerns the “modalities in which the freedom of the press must be exercised,” guarantees freedom of expression. “The legislation regulating the freedom of expression is available. It is even quite liberal with respect to what I know from other African countries. But this legislation is not enforced in certain situations,” said Ben-Clet Kankonde, manager of the daily newspaper Le Potentiel.

Donat M’Baya Tshimanga, president of the NGO Journaliste en Danger (JED), blamed the lack of enforcement on “political involvement in the justice system and the magistrates’ corruption.” Other panelists said it stemmed from a lack of political will. Mbayi Katshingu, a journalist with the state-run Congolese Press Agency and a member of the Congolese Media Observatory, said that “politicians are reluctant to enforce well-defined legislation.” Isidore Kabongo Kalala, manager of Congolese National Radio-Television (known by its French acronym, RTNC), the state-run broadcast network, said “the public authorities on the one hand and financial forces on the other hand do not allow freedom of expression to exist normally.”

As reported last year, two ministries are involved in the granting of broadcast licenses, the Ministry of the Post, Telephones, and Telecommunication and the Ministry of Information, Press, and National Communication. The first issues the license and authorization for technical operation. The second issues the authorization to open. Last year’s panelists believed that there was a lack of independence and transparency by the granting agencies.

Journalists have been frequent victims of violence throughout the rebellions and regional uprisings of the past dozen years. Most recently, fighting in the country’s northeastern region has resulted in killings and kidnappings of individual journalists, and forced radio stations to close. “The legal protection of journalists is a useless line. Journalists are still questioned and intimidated. In the Eastern Congo, given the small-weapons traffic, the best way to settle the score with a journalist is to kill him,” said Solange Lusiku, manager of Le Souverain, a newspaper in the northeastern city of Bukavu. Lusiku mentioned the assassination in 2007 of Serge Maheshe, assistant editor of Radio Okapi, a station operated jointly by Fondation Suisse Hirondelle and the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo. In November 2008, after the panelists met, another Radio Okapi journalist, Didace Namujimbo, was killed.

Libel complaints against journalists are usually handled as criminal cases, according to Godefroid Kabongo Nzengu, an attorney who often defends journalists and media companies in court. Kabongo Nzengu deplored the fact that “the right to reply or modification granted by the press law to the wronged person has no effect when it comes to judging a journalist’s guilt.” He cited the example of Moliere TV, which was shut down by the minister of communications. When a court ordered that the station be allowed to reopen, the minister refused. “When the public servant who complains against a journalist has influence or power, no judge dares to remain independent,” Kabongo Nzengu said.

Despite the constitutional guarantee of the right to information, there is no legislation regulating access to public information. As a result, access depends on the benevolence of the person that holds that information.

As reported last year, in DRC the media are free to broadcast the programs of foreign media. Sometimes journalists appropriate a foreign story without mentioning the source. Since access to foreign sources is so expensive, some media indulge themselves in their fraudulent use without paying for a subscription. Managers of foreign media have complained about the Congolese using their material without permission, but to no avail.

Objective 2: Professional Journalism

Score: 1.40

In general, all of the panelists acknowledged that journalism as it is practiced in the Congo does not comply with generally recognized professional standards or, at best, complies to a very limited extent. Benoît Kambere Lusamba, a journalist with the Catholic magazine Renaître, said, “professionalism is sacrificed on the altar of private and personal interests. Unfortunately, the quality of journalism depends on multiple, extra-professional factors such as the social situation, journalists’ safety, the precariousness of the job market, small salaries, etc.”

Blandine Lusimana, a journalist with the daily newspaper L’Observateur, said another reason for the low quality of coverage is that “very few media companies pay for reporting. Journalists are taken care of by event organizers, which means that when the article is written, those organizers will get the royal treatment.” Journalists who do report without bias, she said, often find that editors simply put their articles aside to wait and see if a better offer comes along from a politician or advertiser. M’Baya agreed, saying, “The press is increasingly disappointing. Essential topics are not addressed or are addressed superficially. There are more bought articles or shows that praise politicians; meanwhile the country is not well.”

However, Dieudonné Tombe Kabiena, a teacher with the University Institute of Information and Communication Sciences in Kinshasa, said that, “Some journalists are really professional, with an honorable background, abiding by the code of ethics and obligations.” All of the panelists praised the work and professionalism of Okapi Radio, which M’Baya cited as proof that, if given decent salaries and equipment, Congolese journalists can do a great job.

Ethics are often breached, panelists said, largely due to what Clavet Roger, a Canadian national and journalist trainer, called “generalized corruption of press owners and the pressure of the public, religious, and military authorities on the editorial content.” Roger said he believes that the main problem is “the poor financial conditions that journalists are forced to put up with.” Joseph Mbakulu Pambu Diana, provincial manager of the RTNC in the western part of the country, said that to compensate for their low salaries, “journalists become press officers or communication advisors in political offices, ministries, or public companies.”

Lusiku asserted that “journalists who are underpaid or not paid at all cannot be independent.” And Emmanuel Kabongo Malu, a national media expert working for the Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, lamented that “these media companies are just ways for the owners to get rich, to the detriment of journalists seen as simple enforcers, with no employment contract or fixed and regular salaries.”

Kabongo Malu also touched on the topic of self-censorship, saying, “Congolese journalists and media practice self-censorship abundantly, which bypasses the important issues.”

As reported last year, the technological means available to journalists are not state-of-the-art, but still somewhat modern. This is especially true for the broadcast media. But the written press suffers from major crisis in terms of equipment, affecting everything from the collection through to the distribution of newspapers. Because of the absence of printing plants, publishers heavily depend on their more fortunate colleagues who own them and who may be somewhat capricious with their services.

Objective 3: Plurality of News

Score: 2.17

The DRC has had a large number of news sources, both domestic and foreign, since 1990, when dictator Mobuto Sese Seko lifted restrictions on media ownership in the country. While the country has more than 100 newspapers and more than 200 radio stations, true plurality of news has nevertheless proven elusive. There are “multiple news sources in the DRC, but not much diversity,” Lusimana said, adding, “The news is the same.” M’Baya said broadcast news, in particular, is skewed toward coverage of official activities of ministers or other public servants, without the slightest critical analysis.

Kambere added that, “These media and news sources are concentrated in cities and larger towns and so in no way cover the entire national territory.” Neither do they address the wide range of topics that interest Congolese readers and listeners, panelists said. M’baya said the media, especially broadcast stations, seldom cover issues such as the lack of electricity and water in the cities, violence and crime, human rights violations, misappropriations, and the cost of living. There are seldom any human-interest stories, Lusimana said, because “they do not pay.”

News provided by international sources is more diverse. Radio France International (RFI), the BBC, and Voice of America are very popular in the DRC and counterbalance the news provided by domestic outlets, Kakonde said. Recently, however, the government banned RFI broadcasts in the eastern cities of Bukavu and Bunia. The Congolese media also use international agencies such as Agence France-Presse, Reuters, and the Associated Press, often without agreements with these agencies.

The Internet is available, without legal constraints, “but the high cost excludes most of the potential users,” M’Baya said. In Kinshasa, he said, “one must pay at least $300 for an Internet connection kit and a monthly subscription of at least $100.” Kabongo Malu said it would be “difficult to say that this digital boom provides people with objective and reliable information.”

The country’s government-run media were liberalized in 1996 under Law No. 96/002, which says the state-run media are public services that cannot serve an individual or a group of individuals. But experience shows that the RTNC serves the government and the ruling party, Kankonde and Kabongo Kalala said. However, Diana, who heads the state broadcaster in western Congo, said that in his region, the network reflects all opinions despite logistical difficulties.

The DRC has four domestic news agencies: the state-run Congolese Press Agency (CPA); Associate Press Agency, a private company created by former CPA journalists; Dia, a Catholic news agency, and; Syfia International, which is privately run.

Ownership of private radio and television stations is not transparent, Kankonde said. The public owner is often not the real owner. Kabongo Kalala said owners often use dummy companies, creating “media empires” in no time. Tombe added: “The interplay of dummy companies works wonderfully.” “Most of them are controlled by a conglomerate of politicians with diverse if not divergent interests,” Kambere said.

Several panelists said the media serve a variety of the many ethnic groups that populate the vast country. “There are more and more very critical political debates, even in national languages, which is a very good thing,” M’Baya said. Katshingu said Congolese broadcast media appeal to different ethnic groups because they have the advantage of being received at no charge and offer news in local or national languages, including Tshiluba, Kikongo, Lingala, and Swahili (newspapers cost roughly $1 apiece and are written in French). Kabongo Nzengu pointed out, however, that “there are more and more shows in local languages, but the legal target of 30 percent has not yet been reached.”

Roger summed up the situation by saying that a diversity of news sources does not necessarily provide citizens with objective and reliable news. To correct this problem, “media owners must be willing to show transparency, [and] the state must recognize the right of the public to be informed and the right of journalists to be treated with dignity, like a person searching for truth and not like mere useful but underpaid transmission belts.”

Objective 4: Business Management

Score: 1.32

Panelists agreed that DRC’s private media are not well managed and cannot hope to be profitable in the current economic climate. Lusimana said that more often than not, a private media outlet has “a family-run-type management with no accounting. The owner controls all financial receipts.” Kankonde concurred, saying that “the independent media live from day to day without accounting.”

Such problems cannot be resolved until some measure of stability is restored to the DRC and its economy is allowed to grow, panelists said. “The independent or public media cannot be profitable in a disaster-stricken state,” said Roger. “The DRC is painfully living in moral and economic bankruptcy. Competition and a lack of solidarity prevent media workers from uniting and creating common marketing strategies.” Kabongo Nzengu echoed that view, saying that “in a disastrous economy and with a diminishing [consumer purchasing power], written press companies in general have to survive with political funds and subject themselves to the advertisers’ whims.”

Those two revenue sources—advertising and politicians—have a pervasive and generally unhealthy holds on media companies’ balance sheets, panelists contended. The topic of editorial independence sparked a stormy debate among the panelists, some of whom contended that not all private media are independent. They are private because they are owned by individuals or groups of individuals, but media independence refers not to ownership but to the editorial policy with respect to the political or financial powers.

Some panelists said advertisers flout the law in terms of content and sheer numbers of advertisements. Katshingu complained that misleading advertisements are common. For example, beer ads promise drinkers that they will gain athletic prowess. There is also illicit advertising—bylined articles promoting a political figure or a product but are obviously paid for, even though the ethical code forbids journalists to associate their name or image with advertising. In some cases, journalists also serve as advertising salespersons and earn a commission, usually 10 percent. Kambere took issue with the quantity of advertisements, saying that “many press businesses survive more or less by inserting advertisements that often compete with the editorial content.”

The limited advertising market, however, means that advertising revenue is not the principal means for keeping private media companies afloat, Tombe said. “The advertising market is informal. The funds that support press companies are political—if not mysterious—and are given to those media that agree to play the game.” Lusimana also referred to “mysterious financing coming from political sponsors. Unfortunately, these political sponsors also influence the editorial policy of the media.” In many newsrooms, an article will be dropped if it is critical of a sponsor, and journalists have lost their jobs for having criticized a “friend” or “sponsor” of the media, often without knowing who they were.

Kankonde acknowledged that politicians fund the media frequently, but he said his newspaper, Le Potentiel, was an exception, drawing its revenue from institutional or individual advertising as well as subscription or individual sales.

M’Baya also suggested media companies were hamstrung by their inability to obtain loans from banks. Interest rates are prohibitive—as much as 18 percent per day, depending on the bank—and bankers would rather lend money to sectors that can be immediately profitable, such as the mining, timber, or food industries. As long as the media do not have access to bank loans, M’baya said, they would be vulnerable companies willing to take political funds and mortgage their independence.

In this situation, Diana said, the state must make things easier for the private media by providing direct support, through subsidies, or indirect support, through tax relief, telephones, transportation, or other means. But such support must be voted on by the parliament and distributed by an independent committee on the basis of objective criteria, such as audience share or print runs, sustainability, etc. But, said Roger, “the Congolese state is completely indifferent to the abeyance and bankruptcy of the Congolese press.”

As reported last year, research in the media is almost non-existent. Media outlets either cannot afford serious research or else owners care only about getting out a political message and not about the preferences of their audience.

Objective 5: Supporting Institutions

Score: 2.00

The panelists generally held the DRC media sector’s professional associations in low regard. Kabongo Kalala decried a “lack of courage and solidarity within professional associations, which do not support the public or the private media. They are poorly organized, and do not have authority and willpower.” M’Baya suggested that there are “too many divisions within the media sector, particularly among journalists. That is why it is difficult to speak in one voice to protect the interests of the trade.” Lusimana said she believes the associations are often controlled by media owners, who take care of their own interests to the detriment of journalists.

Regarding support groups, Kambere said he believes that “although they are not numerous, the associations supporting the freedom of journalists and the media still do a good job to meet the needs of many media professionals.” But Mbakulu disagreed. Except for JED, he said, “the other NGOs only support the media that help them to achieve their own objectives.” Kankonde also said that “JED remains the most active NGO for the defense and protection of journalists. Other younger NGOs have followed its model.” Roger, however, said NGOs are guilty of “contributing to the alienation of the press by offering per-diem allowances to journalists covering their activities.”

Panelists said that journalism education has suffered from the broader educational crisis that has beset their country for decades. “The general and generalized deterioration in the national education sector is becoming almost a disaster for journalism as a profession,” Kambere said. Two decades ago, said M’Baya, the Kinshasa-based Higher Institute of Information Science and Technology—now called the University Institute of Information and Communication Sciences (IFASIC)—“did not have more than 100 students at all levels, recruited after a rigorous competition. Today, IFASIC has more than 2,500 students on the same premises. For lack of space, half of them attend on even days and the other half on odd days. The number of students seems to be more important than the quality of education.”

Access to the profession is too open. With such minimum qualifications required, no one knows who is a journalist and who is not. Kabongo Nzengu suggested that, “Journalistic training must be selective. Today students of journalism do not even know why they want to become journalists.”

Lusiku pointed out that in the eastern city of Bukavu, there is no school of journalism. Most journalists working there learn on the job. They benefit from short-term training organized by NGOs such as the Panos Institute. Roger, himself a trainer, said “the training and improvement needs of journalists and press owners are enormous in Congo.”

Printing operations are all privately held, and some newspapers such as L’Observateur have their own printing plant, which other newspapers also use. “There are private, apolitical printing houses but their technical quality is not good,” Tombe said. “Taking only Kinshasa as an example, there is no printing house capable of printing 10,000 copies in one night. Also, color printing in Kinshasa leaves a lot to be desired.”

Kinshasa is the only Congolese city with adequate printing facilities. Newspapers not located near the capital must look to Bujumbura in Burundi, Kampala in Uganda, or Kigali in Rwanda. This can be ruinous to a newspaper if, as Kabongo Malu concluded, the print medium’s “economic sustainability depends on the capacity to access printing houses and distribution services to minimize costs.”

Panel Participants

  • Ben-Clet Kankonde, director, Le Potentiel Daily Newspaper, Kinshasa
  • Donat M’Baya Tshimanga, president, Journaliste en Danger, Kinshasa
  • Solange Lusiku, manager, Le Souverain Newspaper, Bukavu
  • Mbayi Katshingu, journalist, Congolese Press Agency; member, Congolese Media Observatory, Kinshasa
  • Isidore Kabongo, director, Congolaise National Radio Television, Kinshasa
  • Godefroid Kabongo Nzengu, defense attorney for journalists, Kinshasa
  • Blandine Lusimana, journalist, L’Observateur, Kinshasa
  • Roger Clavet, journalism trainer, Journalists for Human Rights, Kinshasa
  • Benoît Kambere, journalist, Renaître Magazine, Kinshasa
  • Emmanuel Kabongo, media expert, the Belgian Association for the Promotion of Education and Training Abroad; media expert, Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, Kinshasa
  • Dieudonné Tombe Kabiena, teacher, Faculty of Sciences Institute of Information and Communication, Kinshasa
  • Joseph Mbakulu Pambu Diana, provincial manager, Congolaise National Radio Television, Matadi
  • Sylvain Kayumba wa Tshilumbu, former research manager, Journaliste en Danger, NGO, Kinshasa

Moderator
Tshivis Tshivuadi, secretary general, Journaliste en Danger, NGO, Kinshasa

The Democratic Republic of Congo study was coordinated by, and conducted in partnership with, Journaliste en Danger, Kinshasa.