The presence of hostile media phenomenon in Ethiopian private, federal and regional television channels

Abstract

Since Ethiopia’s 2018 transition, sporadic ethnic and political violence and conflict and inter-group divisions have brought the nation to its knees. This study aims to assess the presence of the Hostile Media Phenomenon (HMP) among audiences of Ethiopian private, regional and federal television channels. Survey data were gathered from 600 participants living in Addis Ababa City, Amhara and Oromia regional states and were purposely chosen based on their historical and political dominance in the country. The study examined six different television channels found in the three regions: Oromia Broadcast Network (OBN), Amhara Broadcast Corporation, Addis TV, Wlata TV, Fana Broadcast Corporation (FBC) and Ethiopian Broadcast Corporation (EBC). The results of this study indicate that the regional states’ television channels play a major role in intensifying the hostile media phenomenon as well as in motivating violence and conflict among different regional states and groups of people.