African Media Barometer Guinea

The first ever Guinean African Media Barometer panel discussion took place in June 2011.

After many years of political volatility and a long transitional phase leading to a democratically elected government, Guinea-Conakry is emerging into what many hope will be a stable democratic society.

How is the media faring under these new conditions?

The new Constitution of Guinea adopted in May 2010 guarantees freedom of expression but given the political and ethnic divisions in the country, this freedom is practised timidly, and not without fear. The state-run radio and TV broadcaster has neither a statute nor a board of directors and thus editorial independence is out of the question. Government’s tight grip on the newsroom forces leaders of oppositional parties to use private radio stations in order to make their voices heard.

In spite of this, about 30 newspapers are on the market and an extensive array of information sources is available, whereas especially in rural communities, distribution is a serious problem as is the survival of many media outlets since the advertising market is miniscule. Unfortunately, the scope and quality of information provided suffers from widespread corruption among media professionals due to their precarious working conditions as well as lack of proper training.