Media and Good Governance in the Horn of Africa: Imperatives to Transform Rhetoric to Reality in Ethiopia

The purpose of this study was to examine the role that Ethiopian broadcast and print media institutions play in promoting good governance and the constraints the media encounter in discharging their responsibility. Informed by development journalism model, the study set out to answer two basic research questions raised to guide the research procedure. Qualitative method was employed to gather the relevant data to answer the questions. Journalists and media mangers from the government/public and the private print and electronic media were considered as sources of data. The data obtained through questionnaire and interviews were analyzed thematically. The finding of the study indicated that despite the rhetoric about the government's determination to fight good governance problems and promote sustainable development and democratization, there are discrepancies between media institutions' perceived roles and actual practices in addressing the rising corruption and rent-seeking problems in the country. There are attempts to address the problem through educational programs and disseminating ant-corruption information; however, the practice of investigative reporting with a bid to expose corruption and abuse of power was found to be insignificant when compared to the problem. A number of factors including lack of attention to investigative journalism, unauthorized political interference and journalists and professional-related problems among others were identified as constraints to practicing investigative reporting as a means to curb the good governance problems in the country.