The Media in Angola is primarily controlled by Angola's dominant political party, the formerly Marxist Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), led by Jose Eduardo dos Santos, the country's de facto president who chooses judicial appointments and heavily influences parliamentary elections.[1]
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The country's official news agency is the government-owned Angola Press Agency (ANGOP), founded in 1975, and formerly allied with the now-defunct, official news agency of the Soviet Union, the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS).[2]
In 2005, the only national daily newspaper was the government-owned Jornal de Angola (circulation in 2000 was 41,000). There were at least seven private weekly publications with circulation in the low thousands. Angolan newspapers include the Jornal de Angola,[3] O Apostolado,[4] and Semanário Angolense.[5]
Rádio Nacional de Angola broadcasts in Portuguese, English, French, Spanish, and major local languages; government-owned, it is the only station with the capacity to broadcast nationwide. In 2004, there were five commercial radio stations, including the Catholic Church’s Radio Ecclesia and Radio Lac Luanda. The only television station was the government Angola Public Television (TPA), which broadcasts in Luanda and most provincial capitals. In 2003, there were an estimated 78 radios and 52 television sets for every 1,000 people.
In 2003, the country had about 17 Internet hosts. The same year, there were 1.9 personal computers for every 1,000 people and three out of every 1,000 people had access to the Internet.
Though a constitution provides for basic freedom of speech and press, the government is said to restrict these freedoms in practice.[2] Journalists are intimidated into practising self-censorship, and the government tightly restricts the main newspapers, television stations, and radio broadcasts.
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