Reporters sans Frontières (Paris)

The report also suggests ways for the transitional authorities to try to create a more healthy and positive environment for journalists in Madagascar, which fell 40 positions in the 2009 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index as a result of the many events affecting the media.

The report is based on a fact-finding trip to Madagascar which Reporters Without Borders made from 15 to 20 March, during which it visited most of the news media in the capital, Antananarivo, and in Antsirabe (170 km south of the capital).

Reporters Without Borders also met with then communication minister Nathalie Rabe, special presidential adviser for policy and communication Rolly Mercia, coordinator for the updating of the communication law Tsilavina Ralaindimby, the Madagascar Journalists Collective, members of the United Nations Development Programme, and several Antananarivo-based diplomats.

In its conclusions, the report calls on the authorities to adopt a new communication law during the current transition, to support the principle of independent media regulation and to guarantee the protection of journalists against attacks and prison sentences.

Reporters Without Borders also urges mediator Joachim Chissano to press each of the main movements involved in the crisis to give firm undertakings to respect press freedom; urges France to channel more of its assistance to the media; and urges Madagascar's journalists to respect the ethics of the profession and to abstain from propaganda, partisan positions and calls for violence.

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