"[...] almost all the media experts interviewed in the study identified “political and legal system,” “public attitude and relationship to media,” and “economic and ownership situation” to be the top three biggest obstacles to news media viability in Ethiopia. In fact, almost four-fifth of the respondents voted for “politics” to be ranked the biggest obstacle, while two-third voted for “public attitude and relationship to media,” and half of the experts cited “economic and ownership situation,” to be in the top three viability obstacles in the Ethiopian media environment. Experts understandably identified “political and legal system” as the most constricting challenge to news media institutions in Ethiopia since most of the problems faced by the media, or at least those in news headlines, were with the authorities and the law. However, subsequent scoring of the media viability indicators and aggregation of those scores to drive meaning has crystalized the fact that the most severe media viability challenges to the Ethiopian news media come not from “political and legal system,” or “economic and ownership situation,” but “technological situation of the country” and “general quality of content”. (Conclusion and recommendations, page 43)

"The study was conducted by interviewing 14 News Media experts in Ethiopia, carefully selected to bring knowledge and expertise on different aspects of the sector including, but not limited to, media policy and law, media business, media technology, editorial and journalism practice, journalism education and training." (Methodology, page 5)