As of that period print and electronic media were covering larger area. However, the suppression of human and democratic rights and the introduction of strict censorship seriously affected its development throughout the reign of the monarchy especially the reign of Emperor HS.I. Television transmission also began at this period. The Ministry of Information was instituted in 1964, which was restructured after two years with powers and duties to include tourism in addition to its mandate over the mass media. The few theatres in the capital were also put under the Ministry of Information and Tourism. This structure was intact until the overthrow of the Imperial rule by the fascist military junta in 1974.

The provisional military government reorganized the institution as the Ministry of Information and National Guidance in 1975. The Ministry was entrusted with powers and duties to head the following institutions.

The Ethiopian News Agency

The Voice of Revolutionary Ethiopia

The Press Department

The Public Relation Department

The Agency for Distribution of Journals and Magazines

The Censorship Service.

This structure was effective until the military government was ousted by the armed struggle led by the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in May 1991. The Military (Derg) rule was characterized by brutal suppression of human and democratic rights of the people which muzzled the development of mass media in the country.

The Transitional government which was founded immediately after the overthrow of the brutal military regime took various measures which were indispensable to promotion of the democratic system being implemented in the country. The right to freedom of expression was proclaimed with the total abolition of censorship in 1992. This proclamation laid a fertile ground for the massive publication of private newspapers and magazines to an unprecedented level in the long history of the nation.

The Ministry of Information of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia was reorganized as the Ministry of Information and Culture of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in 1995. The right of thought, opinion and expression was guaranteed by the constitution, which entered into force in 1995.

The institutions of mass media were given organizational and operational autonomy and were made to be accountable to the House of Peoples' Representative. The Ministry of Information was finally reorganized by proclamation No. 256/2001, which separated it from the Ministry of Information and Culture that became Ministry of Youth, sports and Culture. According to the proclamation, the Ministry of Information is charged with powers and duties to: -

Be the spokesperson of the Federal Government.

Promote, both locally and abroad, Ethiopia and its peoples as well publicize the social and economic activities of the government.

License any press activity other than news papers and magazines the distribution of which is limited to one region, and issue permits to foreign press correspondents stationed in the country.

Ensure that the executive organs of

Ethiopian broadcasting Agency.

Mass media Training Institute are accountable to the Ministry of Information.