Corporacion Estatal de Radio y Television (CERTV)

The Dominican State Radio and Television Corporation (CERTV) was established in 2003. The history of Dominican state media dates back to 1942 when the radio channel Voz del Yuna began broadcasting. In 1952, a television broadcast was launched in the country. After 1965, the state-owned media were brought under the umbrella of Radio Santo Domingo Television, which later became Radio Vision Nacional. Today, CERTV operates the television channel 4RD and three radio stations.


Media assets

Television: Canal4RD

Radio: Dominicana 98.9/99.9 FM, Quisqueya FM, Radio Santo Domingo

State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)


Ownership and governance

CERTV was founded as a state-owned company by Law 134-03 of 2003. Accountable to the Ministry of Culture, CERTV is run by a Board of Directors, a Radio Committee, a Television Committee, a Director General of the Corporation, and a Director for each of its broadcasters (appointed by the Board of Directors, on the recommendation of the Director General).

The Board members are appointed by state authorities. The Board’s composition, according to the article 9 of the law, is as follows: a representative of the Culture Ministry; the Secretary of State for Education; Secretary of State for Higher Education, Science and Technology; the Technical Secretary of the Presidency; the General Administrator of the Reserve Bank of the Dominican Republic; a representative of foundations linked to education and culture, and “three people of proven prestige, knowledge and experience in the field of radio and television communications who have no economic, direct and substantial interests with the commercial radio and television industry.”

The President of the Republic decides which members are to get the positions of President, Vice-President and Secretary of the Board. The latest appointment of the CERTV’s board was in May 2021.

It is also the government that makes proposals both for the seat reserved for the foundations of culture and education and for the three seats reserved for people with prestige in the field of communication.

It is the Board of Directors that appoints the director general of the company for a period of four years. A noteworthy element is that, except for the director, the law states that the company’s employees must be selected by a career service to prevent their discretionary removal. However, the selection process depends on the Board of Directors, which is controlled by the government.

Source of funding and budget

Most of CERTV’s financial resources are public money. CERTV’s 2021 budget was a total of DOP 543.8m (US$ 8.4m), most of it from the state budget.  The following year, the organization had a total budget of DOP 633.9m (US$ 11.8m), according to a company report. In line with article 25 of Law No. 134-03 (2003), CERTV’s funding comes from the state budget, special allowances granted by the presidency of the republic and 10% of the official budget for state advertising.

Editorial independence

According to CERTV’s website, the broadcaster’s main objective is “to serve as a means of spreading the principles and values that define the Dominican State” and to promote and defend the state’s interests. CERTV’s channels are indeed known as propaganda channels. An example of the propagandist vocation of Dominican state television is the 4RD evening newscast. An ad hoc content analysis carried out for this report has found that the content on CERTV’s platforms is openly propagandistic.

Although the CERTV law states that the group has “operational, judicial and financial autonomy”, the broadcaster in reality is a government mouthpiece.

No domestic statute and no independent assessment or oversight mechanism to validate the editorial independence of CERTV’s channels have been identified.

August 2023