Somaliland Media Sustainability Index (MSI)
April 10, 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 Somaliland Chapter (PDF): 2010 | 2009 | 2008
MSI Somaliland - 2010 Introduction
Overall Country Score: 2.18
Nearly two decades after declaring its independence from Somalia in 1991, Somaliland, originally colonized by the British, has established itself as a stable and constitutional polity in the Horn of Africa, although it has not been recognized by any state. After a decade-long bloody civil war, the northern protectorate of Somaliland split from the Italian-colonized south, which has since languished in chaotic fragmentation, based on clan and extremist ideologies. Somaliland, in contrast, enshrines the freedom of expression in its constitution and has allowed a free and vibrant media culture to evolve over the past two decades.
Despite Somaliland’s low literacy rate (around 40 percent), it continues to display remarkable plurality in the media. The independent Somaliland media are currently experiencing fast growth in terms of media outlets coming into the market, especially the print media—including daily newspapers—and news websites. The panelists believe that this growth is partially attributable to the presidential elections, which took place on June 26, 2010. During the election year, 2009-2010, the daily journals grew by at least 30 percent. However, this growth did not extend to the broadcast sector, perhaps due to more stringent government licensing restrictions.
In the recent presidential elections, the ruling party (UDUB) candidates were defeated, and the opposition party (Kulmiye) won with a large majority (49.6 percent to 33.2 percent). A new government took office, amid strong expectations that many points of contention between the last government and the independent media would be relaxed. Already, the government radio and television are shifting toward a public media model, with some fairness introduced into their access and programming. The opposition-party politicians are already getting their message out on the government radio and television, without any obstacles. However, the new government has experienced problems with one international television channel, Universal TV, which it accuses of bias toward a regional insurgency group. The government has twice withdrawn its operating license.
The overall MSI score of 2.18 reflects an improvement from last year's score, indicating a freer media climate. Somaliland's constitution guarantees free speechm, and the prevailing social norms of the Somaliland people strongly support and agitate for free speech. On the other hand, journalists are not meeting professional standards of quality and media institutions are still finding their footing. Journalism is a relatively new industry in Somaliland, and education and professional support structures are weak.
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.
