Radiodiffusion Télévision de Djibouti (RTD) started operations in the 1950s during the colonial times as a subsidiary of the French public broadcasting service. After independence in 1977, the Djibouti government started to use the broadcaster as a national unity building tool. Today, the broadcaster runs four television channels and four radio channels.
Media assets
Television: Tele Djibouti 1, Tele Djibouti 2, Tele Djibouti 3, Tele Djibouti 4
Radio: Radio Djibouti
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
RTD was created through a 1999 decree. The broadcaster is owned by the government. It is subordinated to the minister of communication and culture who is in charge of drafting the general policies of RTD, according to data collected from local journalists in 2020.
RTD is run by a Council of Administration consisting of seven members, four of whom are government representatives. The other three are the head of the national media regulator, an RTD staff member and an NGO representative. All of them are appointed by the government through a decree. The broadcaster is led by a director who is appointed by the government at the proposal of the minister of communication and culture.
Source of funding and budget
RTD is fully funded by the government. The budget of RTD has to be approved every year by the government, according to data collected from local journalists in 2020.
The budget of RTD for the year 2023 totals DJF 1.6bn (US$ 9.3m), according to data from RTD’s management.
Editorial independence
RTD closely follows a set of editorial lines imposed by the government. According to local journalists, the station never criticizes the government.
No domestic statute and no independent mechanism to validate the editorial independence of RTD have been identified.
September 2023