Burundi National Radio and Television (RTNB) is the official broadcaster in Burundi. It runs a radio (Radio Burundi) and a television station (Television Nationale de Burundi).
Media assets
Television: RTNB
Radio: Chaine 1, Chaine 2
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
RTNB was established via Decree No. 100 of 1986 as a “public entity of administrative nature” with its own juridic personality and management autonomy. However, in reality, RTNB is not autonomous as it is run by the Ministry of Communication in Burundi. The main governing structure at RTNB is a board of directors consisting of seven members appointed by the President based on the recommendation of the communication minister. The Director General of RTNB is appointed by the government.
In 2019, Éric Nshimirimana, the head of the Imbonerakure, was appointed director of the RTNB, a move criticized by human rights groups. Officially, the Imbonerakure is the youth league of the ruling party in Burundi. In reality, however, the Imbonerakure is a feared militia known for its brutality against the regime’s critics.
Source of funding and budget
According to the Presidential Decree that established RTNB, the broadcaster should be funded through a combination of sources, including state subsidies, advertising sales, revenues from consulting activities, charges for events, levies charged on users, and donations. In 2019, the RTNB received a state subsidy of BIF 4bn (US$ 2.2m), which accounted for the largest part of the broadcaster’s budget. In 2021, the state allocated a subsidy of BIF 4.4bn (US$ 2.2m) to RTNB, according to the latest budget from the finance ministry.
According to the 2023-2024 state budget, RTNB received a subsidy of BIF 7.15bn (US$ 2.5m). The subsidy was included in the budget of the Ministry of Communication, Information Technologies and Media.
Editorial independence
RTNB is perceived to be a government and ruling party mouthpiece. The station almost exclusively reports (positively) on the activities of the ruling authorities. For many years, RTNB has been a state propaganda outlet serving the party in power.
The broadcaster has been headed since 2019 by a former leader of Imbonerakure, the ruling party’s youth wing accused of instigating the violence during the elections that brought the government to power. Sometimes, state security agencies directly interfere with the work of RTNB’s journalists.RTNB has a nationwide monopoly on information and has been constantly criticized for its unfair and biased coverage of elections.
No domestic statute establishing the editorial independence of RTNB has been identified.
Sometimes, the media regulator in Burundi, the National Communication Council (CNC), comments critically in its written reports on the RTNB’s activity, but that criticism doesn’t lead to any changes at the RTNB. The Council wrote in 2018 that “the non-respect of the principle of balance and pluralism of information is noticed on the RTNB. Almost all the information disseminated on RTNB is related to the activities of the government and its various departments or territorial entities.”
Observatoire de la Presse du Burundi (OPB), an NGO, plays a general oversight role in Burundi’s media. Otherwise, there is no oversight or assessment mechanism in place at RTNB charged with validating the broadcaster’s editorial independence.
June 2024