Promises: Ethiopia’s presidential press pledge one year on
A year ago, after years of social unrest, East Africa’s most populous country – Ethiopia – ushered in a new political dawn with the appointment of Abiy Ahmed, a representative of the country’s largest ethnic group, the Oromos.

The reforms came thick and fast – and that included the media: dozens of news websites appeared, more than 20 new media publications, numerous journalists, jailed and stifled under Abiy’s predecessors freed.

Last year, we spoke with four journalists of different media backgrounds about a year marked out in Ethiopia’s history as one of those rare celebratory stories.

But what happens when the honeymoon period fades?

Flo Phillips revisited the story nine months later to see if Abiy’s promises have been kept.

Contributors:
Jawar Mohammed – Founder and executive director, Oromia Media Network
Tsedale Lemma – Editor in chief, Addis Standard
Tamrat Giorgis – Managing editor, Addis Fortune
Eskinder Nega – Journalist and human rights activist