Radio Centrafrique is a state-run radio broadcaster in the Central African Republic. The station operates with limited resources as it has repeatedly suffered from looting. Two of its transmitters were stolen in 2013, forcing the station to only broadcast FM in Bangui. Radio Centrafrique is currently only able to broadcast nearly 50% of the programs normally planned in its general schedule.
Media assets
Radio: Radio Centrafrique
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
Radio Centrafrique is run like a state media agency. There is no autonomy in the management of the station. Every single decision made at the station has to be approved by the Ministry of Communication and Media (for example, decisions about acquisition of equipment or recruitment of journalists). The station operates as a directorate of the ministry, with its top management selected by the ministry under the influence of the President. A general manager (Directeur général) oversees Radio Centrafrique. Lacking a financial department of its own, Radio Centrafrique has no autonomy in financial or human resources management.
Source of funding and budget
The annual budget of Radio Centrafrique is included in the governmental allocation to the Ministry of Communication and Media. Any income generated by the station (advertisements or charges for broadcasting of communiques) are collected by the National Treasury, which has dedicated staff in charge of collecting this money who sit in the office building of the Ministry of Communication and Media. The funds then go to the ministry’s budget, according to an older (2014) assessment of the station carried out by Internews. Local journalists, however, say that the situation hasn’t changed to date, according to data obtained from them in 2020. The government also sourced in the past the funds needed to cover the costs incurred from the migration of the station’s programs from analogue broadcasting to digital broadcasting.
Editorial independence
Although after 2013, the government limited its pressures on the station, Radio Centrafrique remains a state-run outlet whose programming is shaped to a large degree by the ministry where it operates. The station’s independence is also affected by the lack of culture of investigation and solid news reporting, journalists routinely spending their time to report on news conferences organized by the government, political actors and international organizations.
Radio Centrafrique’s news and information content is mainly focused on the activities and the agenda of the government. The pro-government bias is not created through selection of favorable opinions, but by a quasi-absence of critics as the radio’s journalists do not give space in their programs to government’s opponents. This decision is the result of the government control of the station’s editorial agenda, which prevents critical views or opposition voices from appearing on Radio Centrafrique’s programs.
Radio Centrafrique has no domestic statute that establishes and guarantees its editorial independence. Radio Centrafrique’s status within the Ministry of Communication and Media limits its independence and its capacity to diversify the supply of programs, to develop new types of content and to adjust its human resources.
No independent assessment mechanism to validate the editorial independence of Radio Centrafrique has been identified.
September 2023