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The Perception of Religious Institutions on the Freedom of Expression and the Broadcasting Proclamation

Received: 19 December 2014     Accepted: 4 January 2015     Published: 19 January 2015
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Abstract

This study investigated the perception of religious organizations on the freedom of expression - Article 29 (2) and the broadcasting proclamation No. 533 Article 23/2007 in focus. The researcher employed qualitative methodology with individual in-depth interviews and focus group discussions as data gathering tools. The theoretical framework employed was political economy theory of mass communication. Despite the fact that the Freedom of the Press has been granted as per Article 29 sub article 2 of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Broadcasting Authority has not allowed religious institutions to own broadcast stations for religious purposes. This research is designed to address the issue of this phenomenon, that is, the religious institutions have not been able to secure the permission to broadcast as per the provisions of the Constitution. Two core points raised on the perception of religious organizations on freedom of expression Article 29 sub article 2 and the broadcasting proclamation No. 533 Article 23/2007. The side of the religious leaders argued that they didn’t observe the two articles as adversaries, “though the proclamation seems contradictory to that of the constitutional right given, religion is Parisian and if it is allowed there may be accusing one to the other. Thus, since it is done for the safety of the nation and for the peaceful coexistence of the general public, they didn’t oppose the restriction that is similar to the government reasons. While, with significant exceptions of the practitioners in the religious institutions on the other hand; argued that the main objective of religion is to promote positive values to the society, why it is considered as a threat. And they oppose on the blanket prohibition as it is a barrier for the right to the freedom of religious broadcasting.

Published in Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 3, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.hss.20150301.11
Page(s) 1-17
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Freedom of Expression, Religious Broadcasting, FDRE Constitution, Ethiopian Broadcasting Authority (EBA), Broadcasting Proclamation

References
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  • APA Style

    Gebru Kahsay Kiflu. (2015). The Perception of Religious Institutions on the Freedom of Expression and the Broadcasting Proclamation. Humanities and Social Sciences, 3(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20150301.11

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    ACS Style

    Gebru Kahsay Kiflu. The Perception of Religious Institutions on the Freedom of Expression and the Broadcasting Proclamation. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2015, 3(1), 1-17. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20150301.11

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    AMA Style

    Gebru Kahsay Kiflu. The Perception of Religious Institutions on the Freedom of Expression and the Broadcasting Proclamation. Humanit Soc Sci. 2015;3(1):1-17. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20150301.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.hss.20150301.11,
      author = {Gebru Kahsay Kiflu},
      title = {The Perception of Religious Institutions on the Freedom of Expression and the Broadcasting Proclamation},
      journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences},
      volume = {3},
      number = {1},
      pages = {1-17},
      doi = {10.11648/j.hss.20150301.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20150301.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hss.20150301.11},
      abstract = {This study investigated the perception of religious organizations on the freedom of expression - Article 29 (2) and the broadcasting proclamation No. 533 Article 23/2007 in focus. The researcher employed qualitative methodology with individual in-depth interviews and focus group discussions as data gathering tools. The theoretical framework employed was political economy theory of mass communication. Despite the fact that the Freedom of the Press has been granted as per Article 29 sub article 2 of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Broadcasting Authority has not allowed religious institutions to own broadcast stations for religious purposes. This research is designed to address the issue of this phenomenon, that is, the religious institutions have not been able to secure the permission to broadcast as per the provisions of the Constitution. Two core points raised on the perception of religious organizations on freedom of expression Article 29 sub article 2 and the broadcasting proclamation No. 533 Article 23/2007. The side of the religious leaders argued that they didn’t observe the two articles as adversaries, “though the proclamation seems contradictory to that of the constitutional right given, religion is Parisian and if it is allowed there may be accusing one to the other. Thus, since it is done for the safety of the nation and for the peaceful coexistence of the general public, they didn’t oppose the restriction that is similar to the government reasons. While, with significant exceptions of the practitioners in the religious institutions on the other hand; argued that the main objective of religion is to promote positive values to the society, why it is considered as a threat. And they oppose on the blanket prohibition as it is a barrier for the right to the freedom of religious broadcasting.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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    AB  - This study investigated the perception of religious organizations on the freedom of expression - Article 29 (2) and the broadcasting proclamation No. 533 Article 23/2007 in focus. The researcher employed qualitative methodology with individual in-depth interviews and focus group discussions as data gathering tools. The theoretical framework employed was political economy theory of mass communication. Despite the fact that the Freedom of the Press has been granted as per Article 29 sub article 2 of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Broadcasting Authority has not allowed religious institutions to own broadcast stations for religious purposes. This research is designed to address the issue of this phenomenon, that is, the religious institutions have not been able to secure the permission to broadcast as per the provisions of the Constitution. Two core points raised on the perception of religious organizations on freedom of expression Article 29 sub article 2 and the broadcasting proclamation No. 533 Article 23/2007. The side of the religious leaders argued that they didn’t observe the two articles as adversaries, “though the proclamation seems contradictory to that of the constitutional right given, religion is Parisian and if it is allowed there may be accusing one to the other. Thus, since it is done for the safety of the nation and for the peaceful coexistence of the general public, they didn’t oppose the restriction that is similar to the government reasons. While, with significant exceptions of the practitioners in the religious institutions on the other hand; argued that the main objective of religion is to promote positive values to the society, why it is considered as a threat. And they oppose on the blanket prohibition as it is a barrier for the right to the freedom of religious broadcasting.
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Author Information
  • English language and literature Department, College of Social Science and Humanities, Adigrat University, P.Box:50, Adigrat, Ethiopia

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