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The Media High Council (MHC) was put in place by the 2003 constitution of the Republic of Rwanda as amended to today. As article 34 clarifies, the MHC is an independent institution which aims to address issues of media and press freedom. In the same spirit, the law number 30 /2009 of 16/9/2009 determines its mission, organisation and functioning. According to article 2 of this law, the Media High Council is responsible for protection, control and promotion of media and media professionals. Based on normative theories, qualitative methods and thematic analysis, this study has explored the policy formation of the Media High Council and how it has been balancing the seeming contradictory responsibilities of protecting and controlling media from 2007 to 2010. / Communication Science / M.A. (Communication)

À l’heure où le modèle de l’autorégulation des médias connaît un succès grandissant en Europe, avec la multiplication du nombre de conseils de presse, mais aussi une remise en question fondamentale, suite à l’affaire anglo-saxonne de News of the World, ce travail de recherche tente de définir les bienfaits et les limites du modèle de l’autorégulation en matière de liberté des médias. D’une manière générale, cette recherche tente de montrer dans quelle mesure une responsabilisation collective des journalistes peut soutenir et promouvoir la liberté des journalistes. Pour le comprendre, cette recherche explore les liens entre liberté et responsabilité des médias. Elle montre que si l’État et les cours de justice, en tant que représentants démocratiques, peuvent être les mieux attribués pour définir les responsabilités de journalistes idéalement au service de l’intérêt public, d’autres considèrent qu’il faut laisser aux journalistes le soin de définir leurs responsabilités eux-mêmes pour limiter tant que possible les tentations étatiques de mettre sous contrôle les “chiens de garde” du système démocratique. Cette recherche nous enseigne que le juste équilibre entre régulation et autorégulation des médias dépend alors de la nature du régime politique en place ainsi que des traditions et cultures journalistiques. Elle montre qu’une responsabilisation collective des journalistes par l’autorégulation peut promouvoir et défendre la liberté des médias, lorsque des garde-fous existent pour limiter l’instrumentalisation du système. Elle montre aussi que l’autorégulation ne peut en aucun cas créer les conditions de la liberté des médias. Cette recherche souligne enfin les avantages de l’autorégulation des médias à l’heure du numérique. / At a time when the model of media self-regulation is becoming increasingly popular in Europe, with an increasing number of press councils, but also at a time when the model is being fundamentally questioned following the Anglo-Saxon scandal of the News of the World, this research attempts to define the benefits and limits of media self-regulation for media freedom. In general, this research tries to show how the collective accountability of journalists can support and promote media freedom. In other words, this research explores the relationship between media freedom and accountability. It shows that if the State and the courts, as democratic representatives, can be attributed to better define the responsibilities of journalists ideally serving the public interest, others consider that journalists should rather define their responsibilities themselves in order to limit as much as possible the temptation of state control of the "watchdogs" of the democratic system. This research tells us that the right balance between regulation and self-regulation of the media depends on the nature of the political regime and journalistic cultures and traditions. It shows that a collective journalists’ accountability can promote and defend media freedom when safeguards exist to limit the exploitation of the system. It also shows that media self-regulation can in no way create the conditions for media freedom. Finally, this research highlights the benefits of media self-regulation in the digital era.

The Media High Council (MHC) was put in place by the 2003 constitution of the Republic of Rwanda as amended to today. As article 34 clarifies, the MHC is an independent institution which aims to address issues of media and press freedom. In the same spirit, the law number 30 /2009 of 16/9/2009 determines its mission, organisation and functioning. According to article 2 of this law, the Media High Council is responsible for protection, control and promotion of media and media professionals. Based on normative theories, qualitative methods and thematic analysis, this study has explored the policy formation of the Media High Council and how it has been balancing the seeming contradictory responsibilities of protecting and controlling media from 2007 to 2010. / Communication Science / M.A. (Communication)