Over the past few weeks, some international media have ratcheted up their propaganda against Ethiopia. The lavishly praised media outlets have been lionizing the terrorist TPLF group that has been receiving humiliating defeat by the coordinated mission of Ethiopians.
While doubling down their negative rhetoric against the Ethiopian government, the media outlets have been whitewashing the gruesome crimes that the terrorist TPLF group has been committing against communities in Amhara and Afar states.
Most worse, the diplomatic and foreign policies of the U.S. and some European countries have been primarily being driven by the biased propaganda of the international media outlets. Due to this and other vested interests, the West has been unleashing unwarranted pressure against Ethiopia.
In his interview with BreakThrough News, a Peace Builder and Co-host of Political Misfits on Radio Sputnik Bob Schlehuber stated that the corporate media have been largely involved in misrepresentation of facts while covering the rest of the globe. Sadly, the news media companies have also depicted violence in the developing world in a positive light.
After partaking in the recent public rally staged to condemn foreign intervention in Addis Ababa, Schlehuber expressed his testimony that the people of the metropolis and the rest of the country do not regard the people of Tigray as separate entities, but Ethiopians. “What we hear and read in the media is different from facts on the ground and all Ethiopians are desperate for peace, unity and normalcy.”
By the same token, in an interview Journalist Hermela Aregawi, gave to The Gray Zone on the topic of the current issue in Ethiopia plead to the international community to end propagating TPLF big lies that have been supported by giant paid international media outlets.
“CNN is telling the story from the perspective of TPLF officials and activists and all the time reporting in favor of the terrorist group setting the truth aside,”
The government of Ethiopia is democratically and legitimately elected one following the vast majority vote, so the allegation against the government has a direct repercussion to the allegation of the majority Ethiopians. Their voice should be heard and their unwavering support for their government must be taken into account.
Be that as it may, in his interview with international media, an International Political Analyst Ajamu Baraka noted that the U.S. and the western press are exerting a coordinated effort to criminalize and delegitimize the Ethiopian State, to provide the political context of more aggressive and direct interventions.
“Many of us believe that the objective is a regime change for egregious reasons but what we see right now is a hostile media environment when it comes to Ethiopia, a distorted coverage of the conflict in Ethiopia,” he added.
Recently Government Communication Service (GCS) State Minister, Kebede Desissa told journalists that the western media such as CNN, BBC, and Reuters are misinforming the global community that the humanitarian issue has become more severe only in Tigray ignoring the solid reality in the Amhara and Afar which are invaded by the Terrorist TPLF.
He went on to note that those who are spreading fake reports have been intentionally engaging in supporting the terrorist TPLF. It is well orchestrated to back TPLF’s terrorism since they are continuing with rehearsing TPLF’s claim.
Last week, CNN reported that Ethiopia’s airspace is not a safe one and warned passengers not to travel to Ethiopia. The media has been moving heaven and earth targeting at dismantling the country with fabricated stories working hand in love with westerners and the terrorist TPLF group.
On the topic of the warning, the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority issued a statement saying any flight in Ethiopian Airspace including Addis Ababa international airport is safe and secured. The warning issued and released by media outlets is baseless and quite contradictory to reality. We strongly assure users of our airspace and airports that we are not compromising their safety and security as we are taking every measure to ensure safe and secured flight operation as before; we are complying with the international standards of safety and security measure.
Relating to the issue the Ethiopian Media Authority last week issued a letter of warning for four foreign media outlets such as CNN, BBC, Reuters, and Associated Press.
According to the letter, The Ethiopian Media Authority, in issuing licenses for journalistic operations expects reports not to endanger Ethiopia’s national interest, territorial integrity, or the peaceful coexistence of the people of Ethiopia. Since the onset of the law enforcement operation in the Northern Region of Ethiopia by the Federal government, the Ethiopian Media Authority has been monitoring numerous foreign media outlets and conducting a trend analysis on their reporting patterns on the issue.
Unfortunately, the Authority finds AP as one of the mainstream news organizations that have consistently disseminated news that sowed seeds of animosity among people and compromised the sovereignty of the country.
As covered in detail within this letter the authority has identified some of the trends of media misconduct and shady AP reporting which include manufacturing and dissemination of false news and news analysis on Ethiopia to assist the TPLF’s objectives, reporting the law enforcement operation as a genocidal campaign, reports undermining the government’s efforts to address the humanitarian crisis in the Tigray Region, reporting that the government is using famine and rape as a weapon of war in the Tigray region, producing defamatory reports on the country’s leading institutions and generating news seeking to discredit the country’s leader in the international arena and put the country under intense diplomatic pressure.
The Authority would like to bring to your notice that despite repeated attempts, formal and informal discussions to rectify journalistic misconduct of your news institution, no significant changes have been registered so far.
Given the Authority’s responsibility to protect the wellbeing of the Ethiopian People from the dissemination of unsubstantiated information, the Authority, hereby, extends to your institution a written warning with an understanding that in the absence of ethical and professional journalistic operation, the Authority would be compelled to revoke the license granted to your institution to operate in Ethiopia.
BY ADDISALEM MULAT
The Ethiopian Herald 23 November 2021
