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Ethiopia Mass Media
Before and after the 1974 revolution, the government
controlled Ethiopia's mass communications. However, after
1974 the ideological orientation of mass media in Ethiopia
underwent a substantial change insofar as they became
vehicles for spreading Marxist dogma.
The Ministry of Information and National Guidance published
two daily newspapers: the English-language Ethiopian Herald,
with a circulation of 6,000, and the Amharic-language Addis
Zemen, with a circulation of 37,000. The ministry also
printed Hibret, a Tigrinya-language newspaper published in
Asmera that had a daily circulation of 4,000. The ministry
closely controlled the contents of these publications, and
it used their editorial pages to analyze certain events and
policies from the perspective of scientific socialism.
There were about a dozen periodicals published in Ethiopia.
The WPE issued Serto Ader, an Amharic-language newsletter
with a weekly circulation of about 100,000. Two other
periodicals were the magazine Yekatit Quarterly and the
ideological journal Meskerem (circulation 100,000). Both
publications were printed in English as well as in Amharic.
Marxist-Leninist in tone, the Yekatit Quarterly reported
mainly on the "accomplishments of the revolution." Meskerem
was viewed specifically as an instrument of political
education.
Data as of 1991
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