ABSTRACT

Introduction A country is usually described as “post-conflict” when hostilities have ended and transitory institutions have been established in order to organize “free and fair” elections aimed at restoring the rule of law. Nevertheless, more broadly, a “post-conflict” situation can drag on for years and even decades after these elections, in a context where the absence of war does not mean that all violence has ceased, and democratic institutions remain fragile, dysfunctional or unsustainable. In such contexts, the consolidation of the media sector is viewed as central for political stability and sustainable peace by international democracy assistance organizations, along with other areas such as institution building and the defense of human rights (de Zeeuw 2005). But in post-conflict countries, public and private media outlets face huge challenges, as they generally emerge from war poorly equipped, politically controlled (especially if they have been used as propaganda tools by the belligerents) and with little public trust (Kumar 2006).