The Ethiopian Defamation Laws and Journalists' Perception and Practices Pertinent to the Laws
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Date
2017-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The aim of this research is to examine the Ethiopian defamation laws and the j ournali sts' perception
and practices pertaining to the laws. The Public Sphere th eory and Social Responsibility Theory of
the Press have been employed to inform the research. The research employed both quantitative and
qualitative method of research. Moreover, the research utilized descriptive and thematic analysis
method to ana lyze the quantitative and the qualitative data respectively. 2 10 questionnaires were
administered to reporters and editors in the state run and privately owned media based in Add is
Ababa thro ugh random samp ling, out of which the properly filled and returned 142 questionnaires
were analyzed. Besides, the data from the interview which were gathered from four media se lected
randomly through lottery system and from the purposely se lected four journalists in those media
were analyzed separatel y. What is more, the data gathered from two focus groups with eight
members each se lected using purposive sampling were discussion and analyzed thematica lly. The
various defamation laws of the country were analyzed against the laws on freedom of expression.
Again, the four defamation cases which appeared in the Federal First instant courts since 1999 were
se lected based on the ava ilability sampling and analyzed thematically. The research found out that
journali sts have a negative perception towards the defamation laws; the various defamation laws
serve a chilling effect; and many defamation cases of the court have a deterrence factor to the extent
of se lf-censoring.
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Keywords
Ethiopian Defamation Laws, Journalists' Perception, Practices