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Resources
The resources funding existing media depend on the ownership of individual outlets.
Government media such as Radio Hargeisa and Somaliland National Television subsist on
public funding. USAID, through DAI, has provided assistance to Somaliland National
Television, in the form of equipment. Most private outlets are small scale, and often opened for
political or other interests, rather than to earn a profit. Individual or pooled funding may have
provided the initial seed capital, while advertising provides a main source of current revenue.
Given their larger audience, broadcast outlets are more likely to attract advertising than the
printed press; sales of newspapers are insufficient to cover costs. Though the advertising
market is growing, understanding of its benefits remains limited.
The absence of greater resources and a lack of ethical norms create vulnerability towards
“envelope” or paid journalism, in which journalists receive funds from individuals to provide
coverage in one direction or another.
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Little training, poor pay, limited job security (including
competition from journalists willing to work for less money or unbound by ethical concerns)
and weak support (or outright pressure) from owners or managers may further contribute to
corruption within the sector.
Few international actors provide funding for media, and those that do may inadvertently
contribute to expectations of for-fee content, particularly when coverage leans towards public
relations for a particular project or organization, rather than reporting on a specific issue or
topic. Some media believe that international actors are more likely to provide funding to local
non-governmental organizations to produce media-related programming, on health for example,
leading to a sense of competition between media and civil society. Others also believe that the
international community is more likely to place advertising in government, rather than private
media.
Alliances and Strategies
The Somalia Media Support Group, co-chaired by the U.S. Embassy on behalf of a donors’
group that includes the leadership of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
Organization, drafted a
Media Sector Support Strategy
for the years 2013-2015. The strategy
seeks to develop free, independent and pluralistic media in accordance with the 2011-2015 UN
Somali Assistance Strategy on human security and good governance. Its recommendations
were shaped by European Union-funded research by BBC Media Action
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and include a focus
on regulation, capacity building and audience responsiveness. Because the strategy covers
Somalia in total, it is difficult at times to determine which elements address Somaliland in
particular, and the status of its implementation did not arise over the course of this assessment.
Efforts towards media assistance in Somaliland should aim to coordinate with this strategy, to
the extent possible, including any relevant projects resulting from an April 2013 European
Union call for proposals to support three pillars of the strategy, defined as legal, capacity
building and audience.
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International organizations are expected to pay for coverage of their events and activities as well.
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An Analysis of the Somali Media Environment
. Rep. N.p.: BBC World Service Trust, 2011. Print.
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European Union. Delegation in Kenya - Somalia Mission.
The EU Launches a Call for Proposals Worth
€4,980,000 for Non-State Actors and Local Authorities in Development
. N.p., 25 Apr. 2013. Web.
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