Ethiopian Media Authority Issues Warning Letters to CNN, BBC, AP & Reuters for Reporting False News, Defamation

The Ethiopian Media Authority has issued warning letters to four international media institutions for manufacturing and disseminating of false news and news analyses on Ethiopia to assist the TPLF’s objectives.

The Authority has issued the warning letters to the Associated Press (AP), CNN, BBC and Reuters on Friday.

The Authority stated in the letters that in issuing licenses for journalistic operations, expects reports not to endanger Ethiopia’s national interest, territorial integrity, or the peaceful coexistence of the people of Ethiopia.

Since the onset of the law enforcement operation in the Northern Region of Ethiopia by the Federal government, the Ethiopian Media Authority has been monitoring numerous foreign media outlets and conducting a trend analysis on their reporting patterns on the issue, it added.

The Authority finds  out that these media outlets have consistently disseminated news that sowed seeds of animosity among people and compromised the sovereignty of the country.

“Some of the trends of media misconduct and shady reporting of the media include manufacturing and dissemination of false news and news analyses on Ethiopia to assist the TPLF’s objectives; reporting the Law enforcement operation as a genocidal campaign and undermining the government’s efforts to address the humanitarian crisis in the Tigray region,” the letter added.

Furthermore, the Authority said that these media outlets were reporting that the government is using famine and rape as a weapon of war in the Tigray region;  producing defamatory reports on the country’s leading institutions and  generating news seeking to discredit the country’s leader in the international arena and put the country under intense diplomatic pressure.

Despite repeated attempts, formal and informal discussions, to rectify journalistic misconduct of the media institutions, no significant change have been registered so far, the Authority indicated.

Given the Authority’s responsibility to protect the wellbeing of the Ethiopian people from the dissemination of unsubstantiated information, it extended a written warning with an understanding that in the absence of ethical and professional journalistic operation, the Authority would be compelled to revoke the license granted, it added.

Source: Ethiopia News Agency