Televisão Pública de Angola (TPA) is the national broadcaster in Angola, headquartered in the capital city of Luanda. It operates TPA1, its main channel; TPA2, a channel focused on youth; and TPA International, which caters to foreign audiences and the Angolans living abroad. TPA was established in 1975.
Media assets
Television: TPA1, TPA2, TPA International
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
TPA is a company owned by the government of Angola. The broadcaster’s highest governing body is the Board of Directors consisting of seven people appointed by the President of the country. TPA is subordinated to the Ministry of Telecommunications, IT and Social Communication.
Source of funding and budget
In 2020, TPA had a total budget of AOA 11.6bn (US$ 19.5m), according to a company report. The state budget accounted for 87% of the total budget, meaning roughly AOA 9.8bn. In 2021 and 2022, TPA received state subsidies to the tune of AOA 9.4bn (US$ 15.2m) and AOA 10.65bn (US$ 24.3m), respectively, according to data from the state budget documents consulted for this project. In 2022, TPA received the largest share of the state subsidy awarded to state-run companies.
Editorial independence
There are no formal rules imposed by the government on TPA’s editorial coverage. However, indirectly, the government is constantly pushing the station to favorably cover the official policies and activities of the country’s authorities. The editorial coverage of TPA has thus been often criticized for its pro-government bias and for manipulating facts to favor the government. In 2021, a letter from a TPA journalist revealed that the station bans disseminating information about political opposition parties. In June 2024, a local NGO released a monitoring report showing that TPA, along with other state-controlled media outlets, gives the largest coverage to the activities of the government.
No statue and no oversight or assessment mechanism to validate TPA’s editorial independence have been identified.
June 2024