Somaliland Media Sustainability Index (MSI)
April 24, 2013
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 Somaliland Chapter (PDF): 2012 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008
MSI Somaliland - 2012 Introduction
Overall Country Score: 2.29
Since Somaliland declared its independence from Somalia in 1991 after a decade-long civil war, the independent media have grown quickly, and continue to do so. Now, new media outlets are coming into the market, particularly newspapers and news websites. Somaliland now boasts about 30 news websites, a dozen daily and weekly journals, half a dozen online radio stations, and four local television channels. The Somaliland diaspora are contributing to the growth by funding independent media firms, particularly in the print and magazine markets. Advertisers have returned as well. Broadcast media have shown less growth, perhaps due to more stringent government licensing restrictions on them.
During the first year of the new government, which took office after the 2010 elections, tensions between officials and independent media and journalists have relaxed somewhat. In 2011, state radio and television injected greater fairness into their access and programming. There were no serious clashes or arrests of journalists. During the government’s second year in office, there were some severe confrontations, including the arrests of 22 journalists, five of them female, and the closure of a major satellite television broadcaster on one day.
Somaliland’s average MSI score reflected a modest improvement from the previous report, owing to a freer media climate. Somaliland’s constitutional guarantee of free speech, as well as strong support for that right in society, undergirds its performance in the MSI. Free access to foreign sources, as well as free entry into the journalism profession, were also hailed by the panel as strong points for continued media sustainability.
As last year, professionalism received particularly weak scores; journalists continue to lack basic training and fail to meet basic quality standards. Journalism is a relatively new industry in Somaliland. There is no journalism faculty or college at any of its universities, and professional associations are still in their infancy.
Somaliland has not been recognized as a sovereign country by any nation or international organization. However, the many differences between it and Somalia, including different legal and regulatory regimes, warrant a separate study of media in Somaliland.
