Ethiopia, as reported by the BBC, admitted to jamming the VOA’s signal.  The associated language is severe as Prime Minister Zenawi (pictured below) evoked the Rwandan genocide as a result of external incitement by VOA.

The VOA, as reported by Bloomberg and others, responded with strong language of their own.

The situation generally shows us both:
1) The massive impact that the airwaves have on the political situation in oppressed countries and

2) The need for non-aligned, truly independent, media outlets — and the need to somehow establish this within the boundaries of non-free nations.

We’ll be following this developing story.

New York, December 8, 2009—In its annual census of imprisoned journalists, released today, The Committee to Protect Journalists found a total of 136 reporters, editors, and photojournalists behind bars on December 1, an increase of 11 from the 2008 tally. A massive crackdown in Iran, where 23 journalists are now in jail, fueled the worldwide increase.

A total of 25 journalists were imprisoned in Sub-Saharan Africa in retaliation for their journalism, and nearly 90 percent of these journalists were detained without charges in secret detention facilities, according to an annual census of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Countries as wide ranging as Eritrea, Iran, and the United States were on the list of nations who had imprisoned journalists without charge.

Eritrea by far leads the list of shame of African nations that imprison journalists, with at least 19 members of the media held incommunicado in its secret prisons. Eritrea was the fourth leading jailer of journalists worldwide, trailing only China, Iran and Cuba. Eritrea’s neighbor, Ethiopia ranked second among African nations whose prisons held the most journalists.

Early this year, to take one example, the following Radio Bana journalists were banned in Eritrea:
Bereket Misguina, Radio Bana
Mulubruhan Weldegebriel, Radio Bana
Ghirmai Abraham, Radio Bana
Issak Abraham, Radio Bana
Meles Nguse, Radio Bana
Yirgalem Fesseha, Radio Bana

Detailed accounts of all imprisoned journalists and a statistical breakdown are at http://www.cpj.org/imprisoned/2009.php

Thanks to CPJ’s Mohamed Keita for forwarding this post.