Angola media ministry in row with private paper

Angola has warned a private newspaper that it faced closure if they did not take a patriotic stance while reporting instead of tarnishing the government’s image.

The Mass Media Ministry accused Folha 8 for violating freedom of expression and stretching it to the limit.

On December 30, the newspaper published pictures of the Angolan Head of State, the Vice President and the head of the President’s Military Office complete with a caption stating that the trio should be detained over corruption.

A press statement from the Mass Media Ministry said such kind of journalism taints the reputation of the state.

“Those pictures tarnish the good name, reputation and image of those personalities, even in the terms of the Constitution of Angola,” the statement read in part.

Sourced from internet

The ministry also requested the National Media Council to take disciplinary measures on the journalists working for the paper.

Over the weekend government officials used the state controlled media - Radio Nacional de Angola, Televisão Publica de Angola, Jornal de Angola and Angop to criticise Folha 8 over the same calling for its closure.

However, in a quick rejoinder, the newspaper’s editor, William Tonet, who is currently in Brazil for medical treatment, told Voice of America that they sourced the pictures and the caption from the internet.

“We have already acknowledged publicly our error but are excessively condemned in the country”

“Firstly the idea was to publish the pictures followed by an article stressing the government critics’ should show their identity,” he explained.
William Tonet was on October 10 last year convicted for libel and ordered to pay €77,000 fine within five days or go to prison for a year.

The sentence was eventually suspended.