African Media Barometer Mozambique

The fifth African Media Barometer (AMB) indicated that Mozambique has a legal, political, institutional and infrastructural framework that has ensured that people can exercise their freedom of expression and freedom of press, as well as the right to Information, and these are guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Mozambique as set down in Article 48. Preference and extensive coverage has been given to the public and community radio broadcast sector, which is considered the most important channel of communication.

The vocal participation of media organisations and civil societies have addressed the existence of laws that are in contradiction with the principles defined by the Constitution regarding the media. Cases of contraventions of the law have been recognised and condemned, such as the lack of encouragement and legislation for equal distribution of state advertising, which is the largest advertiser and enables the sustainability of media houses. The media market in various mediums has seen a growing interest by the public resulting in increased introductions of newspapers, television production channels and online features with the aim of attaining citizen participation. However, issues from the last AMB Mozambique assessment are yet to be addressed from matters concerning legal affairs, public media policy, professionalism and the independence of public broadcasting.