Mozambique Media Sustainability Index (MSI)
March 8, 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.
MSI Overview | Africa | Asia | Europe & Eurasia | Middle East & North Africa
Download Complete Mozambique Chapter (PDF): 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2006/7
MSI Mozambique – 2010 Introduction
Overall Country Score: 2.36
Rising bread and fuel prices drove protestors to the streets of Maputo in early September 2010. The protests
led to violent clashes between protestors and the authorities; 13 people lost their lives, and the authorities
arrested hundreds. Blaming a viral text message for fueling participation in the protests, the National
Communications Institute of Mozambique (INCM) ordered Mozambique’s two major telecom companies to
block SMS messaging. The government cited national security concerns to justify this step, which ignited
more anger. The protests reveal much about Mozambique’s media, showcasing the growing use of new
media tools and the government’s evolving reaction to this changing tide.
The media coverage of the protests reflected the differences between Mozambique’s public and private
media. Panelists noted that private media agencies covered the September scene live—prompting figures
close to the government to accuse the press of encouraging the protesters. During the demonstrations, the
public generally applauded coverage by the independently owned STV television station. Unsurprisingly to
the panelists, public agencies provided no reports in the early stages of the crisis.
Other panelists believed the media’s failure to provide adequate space for dialogue on public interest topics
was a factor in the clash. They suggested that if the media provided a better forum for those affected
by the rising cost of living to air their concerns, the violence might have been avoided. The panelists
agreed, though, that the use of Twitter and other new media tools and blogs gained new respect as they
helped spread news of the protests internationally. For example, diplomats based in Mozambique and
international news agencies cited the blog of a Mozambican sociologist as an independent, alternative
information source on the protests.
Despite the government’s reactions to the protests, and shortcomings in Mozambique’s libel and information
access laws, the panelists generally praised Mozambique’s legal and social standards for strengthening
and protecting the freedom of expression and the press. In particular, they pointed to the diversity and
plurality of news sources, the absence of legal restrictions to access of information, and the emergence of
an informed and increasingly more active civil society, capable of advocating for the effective exercise of
rights and freedoms of citizens and journalists.
Accordingly, panelists scored Objectives 1 and 3 in the upper half of “near sustainability,” believing that the
gains are fairly solid. Objectives 2 and 4 scored lower because, despite the atmosphere of press freedom,
there are very serious deficiencies and shortcomings in training—both theoretical and practical—and
technological modernization, which undermine Mozambican journalism. Mozambique’s media outlets
must boost professionalism and editorial independence to strengthen their financial footing and improve
management practices.
