Formerly ORTN, Radio-télévision du Niger (RTN) is the company responsible for running the Niger public service media. Founded in 1967 as ORTN, the company runs two television channels (Tele Sahel and Tal TV) and the radio station La Voix du Sahel. In April 2022, the company changed its name from ORTN to Radio-télévision du Niger (RTN).
Media assets
Television: Tele-Sahel, TAL TV
Radio: La Voix du Sahel
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
RTN is a state-owned company that is run by the Ministry of Communication. It was established through Law no. 67-011 of 1967, later amended. RTN is governed by a Board of Directors who are appointed by the government. In January 2023, Toudou Mariama Issaka, a journalist, was appointed general director of the RTN by the government.
Source of funding and budget
RTN is funded through a combination of state subsidies, revenue from license fees paid by all citizens of the country and commercial revenues. There are no publicly available reports documenting the financial performance of RTN. According to local experts and journalists, RTN operates with a budget of about US$ 2m, 70% of which comes from the state. That is a higher share than 10 years ago when the state subsidy accounted for 52% of the RTN’s overall budget.
Editorial independence
There are no formal rules imposed by the government on RTN to follow a pro-government line. Yet, local experts and journalists and an ad hoc content analysis found that the station’s coverage is blatantly pro-governmental, airing mostly communiques from government bodies and totally refraining from any criticism targeted at state institutions.
No domestic statute and no oversight or assessment mechanism to validate RTN’s editorial independence have been identified.
September 2023