The Ethiopian Media Council (EMC) held its maiden general assembly after it was registered as a legal entity by the Agency for Civil Society Organizations, to discuss about how the future.
The discussion was held at the Intercontinental Hotel on October 19, 2019, in the presence of Getechew Dinku Director of Ethiopian Broadcasting Authority and representative of United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Established with the aim of contributing to the development of professional and responsible media in Ethiopia, EMC has got registration certificate from the civil societies’ agency three months ago, after three and half years of process, according to Teguest Yilma, Chairperson of Ethiopian Media Council, who made an opening remark at the meeting.
As the number of media outlets increase and the country is set to hold general election next year, having responsible media is vital, according to Getachew Dinku.
He stated that the establishment of self-regulator media council in Ethiopia by media owners will play critical role in allowing the media outlets to provide timely, balanced and accurate information in a responsible manner.
He also urged all media outlets in Ethiopia to be member of Ethiopia’s first self-regulatory media council.
The first establishment conference was hosted by the United Nations on 12th January 2016 at the UN Conference Center.
During the council’s founding meeting, 19 founding members have signed on to the membership, now the members have increased to 29 which include public and private media outlets.
