The Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) is a state-owned national radio and television media group in Sierra Leone. It operates from Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone. It also runs a chain of local FM radio channels. The origins of the broadcaster go back to 1934 when Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service (SLBS) was created, one of the first radio broadcast services launched in West Africa.
Media assets
Television: SLBC TV
Radio: SLBC Radio
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
The SLBC emerged in 2010 due to a merger between the government-owned Sierra Leone Broadcasting Services (SLBS) and the United Nations peacekeeping radio station Radio UNAMSIL. SLBC is owned by the government of Sierra Leone and operates as a department of the Ministry of Information and Communications. It was established in 2009 through a special SLBC Corporation Act.
The main governing body at SLBC is a board consisting of nine members, eight of whom are representatives of civil society organizations and professional groups such as the Bar Association and the University of Sierra Leone. The President appoints the chair upon approval by Parliament. The station’s director is an ex officio member of the board. In March 2024, the President appointed Josephine Kamara as SLBC’s director. She became the first woman to lead the broadcaster since its transformation from SLBS.
Source of funding and budget
SLBC is funded through a combination of state budget allocations and commercial revenue. However, the corporation has yet to manage to become self-sustainable, relying heavily on state subsidies. Moreover, the government has in some of the recent years released lower amounts of money for SLBC than officially approved. In 2019, for example, it released SLE 317.8m (US$ 34,000) of the approved SLE 1.3bn (US$ 140,000), according to a report from Sierra Leone’s parliament.
In 2020, the government approved SLE 710m (US$76,700) for SLBC. That same year, the broadcaster generated a total of SLE 563m (US$60,800) from commercial sales.
Editorial independence
Since its creation in 2010, international media development groups have offered training and consulting to assist SLBC in becoming an independent public service media operator. However, despite a few years of attempts to remain independent, SLBC has succumbed to government pressures. In a 2023 report released by the EU election observation mission, SLBC’s “subservience” to the government was mentioned, as the broadcaster greatly favored the ruling party during the electoral campaign.
Our research has not identified any domestic statute establishing SLBC’s editorial independence, or an oversight or assessment mechanism to validate the broadcaster’s autonomy.
July 2024