Final Project

Report history and development of electronic media of Madagascar.

Submitted To: Misbah ud Din Qadri

Submitted By: Syed Shawaiz Ali Shah
Enrollment Number: 34571
History of Electronic Media in Madagascar
The republic of Madagascar gained independence from France on June 26th, 1960. According to
United Nations, Madagascar has its place in the group of least established countries. Since
beginning due to intense deprivation and illiteracy, the saturation of electronic media has been
limited. Moreover, there has been severe media restrictions from the authorities through
imprisonment and threats although the law supports freedom of speech. The history indicates that
different media outlets, reporters and journalists were harassed, threatened, and intermittently
banned to suppress the criticism and reporting against the government.
 From 2009 all through 2012, licenses were retracted from around eighty radio and
national television stations.
 On July 22nd, 2012; the authorities shut down the radio station (Free FM) entirely. Due
to endless harassment from the government officials, the station technician
Rakotondrazafy and Pierre seek out help from South Africa in August, but Free FM
remained closed.
 In November 2012, two editors were condemned to three-month imprisonment and few
days later in a trial the court added three-years without suspects being presented.
 Not only the suspects but their families were also tormented due to which the people
were terrified to join any electronic media platform.
 The government had monopoly on the broadcasting of programs that were publicized on
radio and television stations and continued to ban those who refused to follow the altered
censoring rules by the officials on broadcasting. According to the government these
actions were taken for national security.
 Not only this but the government also scrutinized emails and restricted internet access.
Only around 2% population had internet access till 2008. Mainly the different political
parties had internet access which they used to share their statements and judgements
against the opposition.
 The access of internet expanded in November 2009 after the inauguration of Lower
Indian Ocean Network (LION) undersea cable and fiber-optic network linking
Madagascar and neighboring islands.
 After 2009, although the people around the world were deactivating their Facebook
accounts due to privacy concerns but Malagasy citizens had joined massively. Even the
politicians joined Facebook as they understood the importance of this platform and how
far their posts can reach in the world.
 In the beginning of 2021, there were intense political conflicts between the government
and opposition which again effected the overall media content.
 The electronic media’s history of Madagascar has repeatedly shown that people over
there had no freedom of speech. They were forced to hold back their views and opinions
about the government. They were continuously monitored by the government officials
and there were restrictions on the internet as well. Therefore, the people of Madagascar
had least knowledge about the world and people were living without exposure.
  Electronic media is not only the source of information about political circumstances and
experiences happening around the country. It can also help the people to understand and
learn what is happening around the world so that they grow in every way. Those nations
that are unaware of their surrounding cannot grow. The government of Madagascar
should have given their public a complete access of the internet, allowed people to speak
up about their rights and give opinions irrespective of their political career. This is one of
the reasons why Madagascar is considered one of the least developed nations.

Development of Electronic Media in Madagascar

With time the electronic media access in Madagascar has expanded gradually but progressively
over the last decade but still the journalists and other electronic media workers must go through
vague legal framework that controls their practice of freedom of speech.
 After the implementation of the communication infrastructure project PICOM supported
by the world bank, people of Madagascar were able to get access of electronic media to
stay in touch with their family members living in the country or abroad and, they were
able to send them money.
 Recently there has been an expansion of mobile telephony, mobile transactions, and
internet services in Madagascar according to United Nations report.
 Madagascar’s population reached about 28.80 million in January 2022 along with that
the overall usage of internet and other electronic media means also increased up to 3.15
million which is less if we compare it with the world but if we compare it to
Madagascar’s electronic media history, this has expanded significantly.
 Access to international sources through television satellite has also increased massively
in recent years. However, their costs are high which the people of rural areas mostly
cannot afford due to low purchasing power.
 In the capital and major cities, the advertisements and announcement through electronic
media is a huge source of income for the people.
 Several institutes in some major cities of Madagascar are offering training and education
on journalism and other media related courses. Due to this initiate the public is getting
more and more aware of electronic media and its benefits.

Conclusion
Madagascar needs government and private sector’s involvement and openness to reduce the
digital divide because even those people who can afford internet access are deprived of any kind
of electronic media due to lack of knowledge. They are unaware of the importance of electronic
media specially in rural areas which is causing digital divide. Journalists and other media
workers should be given complete and full authority so that they can improve the quality of
media content. The government should not let the political instability effect the electronic media
coverage and access among people. The government should realize that to grow and compete
with the world they need to educate their people and to be able to connect freely with the world
through different sources of electric media.
 References

1. Freedom House (October 10th, 2013), Freedom of the Press Review – Madagascar.
2. M. Ethan Katsh, Oxford University Press (1989), The Electronic Media and the
Transformation of Law.
3. Media Sustainability Index Africa (2012), Madagascar pdf.
4. Internews (2022), Madagascar Information Needs Assessment.
5. Lova Rakotomalala (2010), The State of Citizen Media in Madagascar.
6. Simon Kemp (2022), Digital 2022: Madagascar.
7. Wikipedia, Telecommunications in Madagascar.
8. BBC News, 20th June 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
9. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012, Bureau of Democracy, Human
Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 22 March 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
10. World Factbook, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 7 January 2014. Retrieved 16 January
2014.