Master's Thesis from the year 2017 in the subject Communications - Journalism, Journalism Professions, grade: Very Good(A), Addis Ababa University (School of Journalism), course: Journalism and Communication, language: English, abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine sustainability and the roles Ethiopian media council (EMC) plays in addressing the issues the media faces in Ethiopia. In order to assess the sustainability and roles of EMC, the study examined determinant factors of sustainability and success of the council. The study employed mainly qualitative, in-depth interview and complemented by quantitative, structured questionnaires, research methods. Data were thematically analyzed based on related literature reviews, in-depth interviews, and findings from questionnaires. The social responsibility theory remains central in guiding this study. The study revealed media community do not reach consensus on the roles of EMC plays in the industry because a clear understanding and explanation of the council role was not given. The result showed EMC is not independent (from government and media proprietors) to deal fairly with complaints and to secure public trust and confidence. The findings also indicated that the council does not bring the entire media platform (online & offline) because of this it will be difficult for the EMC to enforce a code of conduct. In addition, government interference, lack of finance, lack of commitment and cooperation, media polarization, conflict of interests and distrust among media society are major challenges for the EMC in promoting and sustaining freedom of expression and media freedom. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations have been forwarded.

Master's Thesis from the year 2017 in the subject Communications - Journalism, Journalism Professions, grade: 4.00, Addis Ababa University (College of Journalism and Communications), course: Journalism and communiction, language: English, abstract: The government media are event oriented. They lack professional integrity for the public interest by ensuring transparency and accountability by exposing corruption and investigating crimes that hinder the national development process through ethical participation in the development activity in a process oriented manner and are not finding solutions for development problems through participating in the grassroots. Structural censorship, self-censorship of journalists, unethical conduct of journalists, professional limitations, law commitment of media leaders to enforce the policy, lower level of public culture of information exchange, trespassing of editorial policy and government official’s perception of DJ as a development success only reporting are challenging the practice. In contrast, privately-owned media in Ethiopia covers less development issues than the government media, gives very little time and space for the development issues of Ethiopia compared to the government media. But, in that little amount of coverage, they focus on government development actor’s failure and dissimulate non-state actor’s failure. Paradoxically, the private media in Ethiopia similar to government media are not applying investigative journalism and watchdog the public property. They have no role in exposing corruptions and crimes committed on public properties. Practically, they are also event oriented and Addis Ababa-based, one-sided story tellers more than the government media. Resource limitation (human, material and financial), wrong perception of government PR officers and officials towards private media and prohibition of information, government tax and null incentive for private media, lower level of public culture for information exchange and freedom of expression are the top line challenges which affected their coverage of development issues of the private media.

»What Does Theology Do, Actually? Observing Theology and the Transcultural« is to be the first in a series of 5 books, each presented under the same question – »What Does Theology Do, Actually?«, with vols. 2–5 focusing on one of the theological subdisciplines. This first volume proceeds from the observation of a need for a highly inflected »trans-cultural«, and not simply »inter-cultural«, set of perspectives in theological work and training. The revolution brought about across the humanities disciplines through globalization and the recognition of »multiple modernities« has introduced a diversity of overlapping cultural content and multiple cultural and religious belongings not only into academic work in the humanities and social sciences, but into the Christian churches as well.

Exiled populations, who increasingly refer to themselves as diaspora communities, hold a strong stake in the fate of their countries of origin. In a world becoming ever more interconnected, they engage in 'long-distance politics' towards, send financial remittances to and support social development in their homelands. Transnational diaspora networks have thus become global forces shaping the relationship between countries, regions and continents. This important intervention, written by scholars working at the cutting edge of diaspora and conflict, challenges the conventional wisdom that diaspora are all too often warmongers, their time abroad causing them to become more militant in their engagement with local affairs. Rather, they can and should be a force for good in bringing peace to their home countries. Featuring in-depth case studies from the Horn of Africa, including Somalia and Ethiopia, this volume presents an essential rethinking of a key issue in African politics and development.

In 2017 Christians around the world will mark the five hundredth anniversary of the Reformation. In the midst of many appeals for reformation today, a growing number of theologians, scholars, and activists around the world believe Reformation celebrations in 2017 and beyond need to focus now on the urgent need for an Eco-Reformation. The rise of industrial, fossil fuel-driven capitalism and the explosive growth in human population endanger the fundamental planetary life-support systems on which life as we know it has evolved. The collective impact of human production, consumption, and reproduction is undermining the ecological systems that support human life on Earth. If human beings do not reform their relationship with God's creation, unspeakable suffering will befall many--especially the weakest and most vulnerable among all species. The conviction at the heart of this collection of essays is that a gospel call for ecological justice belongs at the heart of the five hundredth anniversary observance of the Reformation in 2017 and as a--if not the--central dimension of Christian conversion, faith, and practice into the foreseeable future. Like Luther's Ninety-Five Theses, this volume brings together critical biblical, pastoral, theological, historical, and ethical perspectives that constructively advance the vision of a socially and ecologically flourishing Earth.

The Quest for Press Freedom is a book about press development and freedom in Ethiopia, with a focus on the state media. It examines the building of a modern media institution over the last one hundred years of its existence, and the restrictions against its freedoms. The significance of this work lies in its originality and that it addresses these two issues across three distinct epochs: the monarchy era, the Marxist military regime, and the current ethnic federalist regime. The book examines the political and social situations in each of these periods, and analyzes the effects they had on the media. The book also provides examples of how journalists working for the government-run media have a strong desire to exercise their constitutional right to press freedom. In the final chapter, Reta offers recommendations for a more viable media system in Ethiopia.

In 2014–15, the Ethiopian government, together with many academics and observers, was surprised by the outbreak of anti-government protests, as large-scale public contestation of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) had been largely absent in the regime’s history. The dominant narrative about the EPRDF regime was that it was a top-down government, using authoritarian methods to ensure the population abided by its visions and directives, and describing its role in paternalistic ways, such as being the protector and guardian of the people. Changing this narrative, Citizens, Civil Society, and Activism under the EPRDF Regime in Ethiopia considers how citizens and civil society expressed their interests and exerted their agency in an authoritarian setting. Focusing on the EPRDF regime over a period of three decades up to 2019, the book explores civic activism in Ethiopia, presenting diverse examples of how citizens have (re)shaped the country. Challenging state-centric readings of state-society relations under EPRDF governance, this collection provides a counternarrative that emphasizes the role and agency of citizens and civil society. The contributing authors draw on a heuristic analytical framework that examines different types of interactions between civil society and state actors (co-optation, co-operation, coexistence, and contestation) and captures the ways in which civil society actors make their voices heard. At a time when authoritarian forms of governance are increasingly prevalent across the world, this critically important collection offers insight into how citizens claim their agency and challenge state power in apparently top-down contexts.