page_title: Mass media in Ethiopia
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Mass media in Ethiopia / Newspapers / History
caption_attribution_description: English: A poem praising Emperor Menelik in the newspaper Aimro (Nehasw 10, 1916 E.C.)
context_page_description: The mass media in Ethiopia consist of radio, television and the Internet, which remain under the control of the Ethiopian government, as well as private newspapers and magazines. Ten radio broadcast stations, eight AM and two shortwave, are licensed to operate in Ethiopia. The major radio broadcasting stations include Raido Ethiopia, Radio Fana a private station, Radio Voice of One Free Ethiopia, and the Voice of the Revolution of Tigray. The only terrestrial television networks are government owned and include Ethiopian Television and other regional stations. In keeping with government policy, radio broadcasts occur in a variety of languages including Amharic, Afaan Oromo, Tigrigna, and more. There are also many video sharing websites which are a popular way of getting information as well as entertainment in Ethiopia.
  Satellite television has been very popular in Ethiopia for many years, with people often watching foreign channels in English and Arabic due to the lack of choice in the Ethiopian television industry. For many years, the only private satellite channel in Ethiopia was EBS TV.
context_section_description: Printed religious books written in Ge'ez (printed in Europe) were distributed in the 1600s in Tigray. Domestic printing press work began in 1863 by Swedish and Italian missionaries. Newspapers began printing in the mid-1880s. In 1890, Italians began printing El Eritereo and in 1891 the publishing company Corriere Eritreo was launched. In 1905, an Amharic and French newspaper, Le Semeur d'Ethiopie, began printing in Harar. In 1912, a newspaper in Tigrinya called Melkite Selam was launched.
  In 1896, Emperor Menelik had Desta Mitiké wrote by hand a newspaper called YeBeir Dimts and then distributed carbon copies of this newspaper around the palace. The first  government newspaper was Aimro and it began publication on January 17, 1901. The creation of the Amharic newspaper was ordered by Emperor Menelik. A Greek businessman, Andreas E. Kavadia, edited the newspaper. In 1906 the Ethiopian Government Printing Press was opened.
  On January 1, 1925, Berhanena Selam was launched. The annual subscription rate was 5 birr and it was published on Thursdays.
  Following the liberation of the country from Italian occupation during World War II,  Emperor Haile Selassie established the newspaper Addis Zemen on June 7, 1941.
caption: An excerpt from Aimro (Nehase 10, 1916 E.C.).
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