Radio Télévision Nationale Congolaise (RTNC) is the nationwide broadcast company in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Media assets
Television: RTNC1, RTNC2, RTNC3, RTNC4
Radio: RTNC
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
RTNC was given its current status of a “public establishment” by the decree no. 09/62 of 2009. The broadcaster inherited the infrastructure of the former L’Office Zaïrois de Radio diffusion et de télévision (ORTZ), the broadcaster in Zaire, which was how the country was known before the establishment of the DR Congo.
RTNC is subordinated to the ministry in charge of media and communications in the DR Congo. In August 2023, the minister of communication and media Patrick Muyaya said that he was committed to reform the RTNC, yet without giving any concrete details.
The highest governing body at RTNC is its Board of Directors, which is composed of nine (there used to be only five) members who are appointed by the President of the republic based on proposals from the government.
Source of funding and budget
According to the decree no. 09/62 (that established RTNC), the DR Congo national broadcaster is financed through a combination of license fee (normally paid by all the households in the country that have access to audiovisual content), ad revenues and other forms of commercial revenues and state subsidies.
The government is in full control over the financing of RTNC, the state subsidy accounting for most of the station’s budget and the advertising revenues generated by the station flowing straight into the government’s accounts, according to experts working on DR Congo. There is no information publicly available about the size of RTNC’s budget.
Editorial independence
Although there are no explicit requirements imposed by authorities on the RTNC that would oblige the broadcaster to provide coverage favorable to the government, the broadcaster is known as a government propaganda outlet, according to local journalists and experts. RTNC as a rule devotes most of its broadcast time to reports that highlight the achievements of the government.
No domestic statute and no independent oversight or assessment mechanism to validate RTNC’s editorial independence have been identified.
September 2023