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The man reporting on Africa’s most secretive state

A Facebook page aims to cover one of the world’s most repressive countries: Eritrea

There is no independent media in Eritrea, a country that ranks near the very bottom of press freedom indexes. But one man is trying to change his country’s repressive system. β€œJ” is the editor of Eritrean Press, a Facebook page which is a mix of political reporting, satire, sport, and light features.
It’s an almost unique development aimed at Eritrean readers both inside the country – where only around 1% of the population is able to access the internet – and the wider diaspora around the world.

In his first-ever interview, the editor of Eritrean Press talks about what it’s like to run a news outlet from outside the country, and how a peace agreement caused his page’s stance to shift - from broad support of government foreign policy to a sharply critical line on President Isaias Afwerki’s regime.

Reporters: Reha Kansara and Mike Wendling
Producers: Reha Kansara and Ed Main

(Photo Caption: The Eritrean Press logo with a silhouette of man talking into a microphone / Photo Credit: ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ/Eritrean Press)

Available now

23 minutes

Last on

Sat 16 Feb 2019 11:32GMT

Broadcasts

  • Fri 15 Feb 2019 21:06GMT
  • Fri 15 Feb 2019 23:06GMT
  • Sat 16 Feb 2019 05:32GMT
  • Sat 16 Feb 2019 11:32GMT

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