Ethiopia revokes senior journalist’s accreditation

The Ethiopian Government has revoked the media accreditation of The Economist journalist Tom Gardner. The country's Media Licence Registration and Accreditation director, Fantahun Asres, confirmed the move. Since 2016, Gardner has been based in Addis Ababa, covering politics, economics, business and culture. His work has also featured in The Guardian, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, The Atlantic, and many others. A report on the News24 site notes that Asres said Gardner had on numerous occasions ignored verbal and written reprimands about his coverage of Ethiopia. The development comes at a time when journalists in Ethiopia have spoken out against arrests and disappearances of colleagues. Ethiopia is ranked 114th, down 13 places from its ranking in 2021, in the latest World Press Freedom Index.