A crackdown on press freedom is intensifying in the Horn of Africa nation
Salsawit Baynesagn is the latest journalist to be detained in Ethiopia this month, according to an Amharic report from The Ethiopian Reporter, the country’s most popular newspaper. Her detention comes as a crackdown on press freedom intensifies in the Horn of Africa nation, where millions of people are facing famine and displacement as a result of endless conflicts – a narrative the government is intent on covering up.
Ethiopia has tumbled three spots since 2025 and now sits at 148th among 180 nations according to the Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index.
The situation has worsened after a period of hope for journalists when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ascended to the Ethiopian premiership in 2018, promising a new era of media freedom after years of repressive rule. He won the Nobel Peace prize a year later and hosted UNESCO’s Global Freedom Day, declaring reforms that would enable full freedom of expression.
But the celebrations were short lived, as journalists and private media including The Reporter face harassment from Ethiopia’s Media Authority, which has silenced reporters and forced many outlets to shut down.
Baynesagn’s story is not an outlier, rather, it is reflected in the experience of many others in Ethiopia who are detained in local prisons with no court order and little communication with their family, friends and colleagues. The crackdown has forced many journalists to abandon their profession as it becomes increasingly dangerous to tell the truth.
And it’s not just local journalists – recently, international correspondents from the Economist and Africa Report were deported along with freelance reporters from the New York Times, and Le Monde for challenging the narrative of a government intent on telling an exaggerated story of development and growth.
Since February of this year, Reuters, one of the most visible news agencies operating in the region, has not able to report from inside Ethiopia, after the Media Authority declined to renew accreditation for its three Addis Ababa-based journalists.
Baynesagn’s colleagues say they have no idea of her whereabouts. She has not been presented in court and her capture by unidentified security personnel has sent shivers down the spines of some of country’s boldest and bravest journalists. If this trend continues, reporting on Ethiopia’s deepening crises – in Amharic or any other language – risks disappearing even further from public view.
The original article ‘ጋዜጠኛ ሳልሳዊት ካልተመለሰ የፍትሐ ብሔር ክስ መመሥረቱ ተገለጸ’ was first published in Amharic in The Ethiopian Reporter on June 17, 2026.
Headquartered in Addis Ababa, The Ethiopian Reporter publishes newspapers and magazines in Amharic and English. Its motto is “Free Press, Free Speech, Free Spirit”.
Summary by Rahel Assefa.
