Guinea Media Sustainability Index (MSI)
March 14, 2012
About the MSI
IREX designed the MSI to measure the strength and viability of any country's media sector. The MSI considers all the factors that contribute to a media system—the quality of journalism, effectiveness of management, the legal environment supporting freedom of the press, and more—to arrive at scores on a scale ranging between 0 and 4. These scores represent the strength of the media sector components and can be analyzed over time to chart progress (or regression) within a country. Additionally, countries or regions may be compared to one another. IREX currently conducts the MSI in 80 countries, and began studying Africa in 2006.
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Download Complete Guinea Chapter (PDF): 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2006/7 | 2006/7 (français)
MSI Guinea-2010 Introduction
Overall Country Score: 2.32
After the turbulence that characterized the end of 2009, in early 2010 Guinea appeared to steer toward a more progressive path and a return to constitutional order. Accords reached in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on January 15, 2010, designated General Sekouba Konaté as the transitional president. Among other things, the accords particularly stressed respect for public freedoms, including the freedom of the press and of opinion.
Following the accords, a Government of National Unity was formed under the direction of Jean Marie Doré, a political leader from the forces vives opposition forces forum; a National Transitional Council, which drew up a new constitution, was also formed. Noting the progress in implementing the accords, the international community pledged assistance for defense reforms and to ensure security in the electoral process. It also committed to helping Guinea’s efforts to kick-start the economy and carry out institutional reforms (demilitarization of the territorial administration and reform of the justice sector) toward consolidating democracy and national reconciliation.
The first round of the presidential elections on June 27 left two candidates: Cellou Dalein Diallo of the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG) and Alpha Condé of the Rally of the Guinean People (RPG). International observers noted a few irregularities, such as a number of unsigned certificates and stuffed ballot boxes, but deemed the elections relatively fair. Before the second round, however, sharp verbal exchanges broke out between the competing political parties and escalated into ethnic clashes. The fighting left two dead and many wounded, in addition to material damage in the capital and some prefectures in the Upper and Forest Guinea regions, and threatened to compromise the return to constitutional life in Guinea. Eventually, a second round of elections took place, and Condé emerged as the nation’s new president.
While the government’s handling of the violence raised concerns about human rights in Guinea, there were some improvements in the freedom of the press. Overall, this year’s MSI study observed noticeable improvement in the sustainability of the Guinean media. Objective 5 (supporting institutions) and Objective 3 (plurality of news) drew the highest scores, solidly in the near sustainability range. The panelists noted that media personnel, in their treatment of the sensitive transition period, observed a code of conduct that helped boost professionalism. Even better, they benefited from hands-on training from NGOs involved in defending democracy and human rights. Objective 1 (free speech) brought the next-highest scores, as the National Transitional Council thoroughly and substantially revised and improved two laws on the media, covering broadcast and online media, and decriminalized press offenses. Simultaneously, the transitional government displayed greater respect for the media, reducing prosecutions and intimidation against journalists. Giving their lowest scores to Objective 2 (professional journalism), MSI panelists cited inadequate professionalism, production gaffes, dilapidated equipment (particularly in the public media and some private newspapers) and low salaries that demoralize the press.
