Quest for Press Freedom

Meseret Chekol Reta taught in the Department of Journalism at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls until his death in November 2012. He received his Ph.D. in mass communication and from the University of Minnesota, where he also received two master’s degrees: one in mass communication and the other in political science. In the 1980s he served as a radio journalist for eight years in his native Ethiopia. For the past few years, Dr. Reta has been a frequent guest on the Amharic Service of Voice of America, commenting on various issues including press freedom in Ethiopia and U.S. electoral politics. In 2007 he co-founded and served as president of the Ethiopian Biographical Resource Center, a project that records biographical information on prominent Ethiopians who have made significant contributions to Ethiopia.

• PrefaceAcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsGlossaryGeneral Introduction Part One—The Media in the Pre-Occupation and Occupation Periods (1901–1941) 1Transition from Traditional to Modern Forms of Mass Communication 2The Media During the Reign of Emperor Menelik II 3The Media During the Pre-Occupation Period (1913–1936)4The Media During the Occupation Period (1936–1941)Part Two—The Post-Occupation Period: Institutionalization of the Media (1941–1974) Introduction 5The Print Media 6Hurdles Against Professionalism 7Broadcast Media 8The Ethiopian News Agency 9Legal and Administrative Controls over the Press10The Media in the Last Days of the Monarchy Part Three—The Media in the Era of Revolution (1974–1991) Introduction 11Print Media 12Broadcast Media 13Ethiopian News Agency 14The Law, the Press, and Professional AssociationPart Four—The Media in the Age of Ethnic Federalism (1991–) Introduction 15Print Media 16Broadcast Media 17News Agenc