Mekelle/Tel Aviv/Nairobi/Pretoria/London
Tigray Broadcasting Service Reports It Was Blocked From Covering Aksum’s Hidar Tsion Festival
Mekelle, December 2, 2025 — Tigrai Broadcasting Service (TBS), the only private and independently operated television station currently active inside Tigray, has emerged as an influential media actor in the region’s fragile post-war environment. Its rise has also placed it at the center of growing tensions with segments of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), particularly senior figures within the party’s long-standing security and military establishment.
Founded and run by a younger generation of media professionals, TBS has positioned itself as an alternative to the highly centralized information system that dominated Tigray for nearly three decades. Its newsroom operating from Mekelle presents itself as accountable primarily to the public, a stance that has shifted the region’s media dynamics.
Tigray Broadcasting Service (TBS), the region’s only privately owned and independent television network, says authorities in Aksum prevented its journalists from reporting on the annual Hidar Tsion festival, one of the most significant religious events in the Tigrayan Orthodox calendar.
In a statement issued Monday, the broadcaster said its news crew was instructed to leave the festival grounds after being denied accreditation, forced to remove their equipment, and barred from filming the celebrations. TBS added that members of its camera crew had their mobile phones searched and were warned not to record any footage.
Accreditation Attempts Went Unanswered
According to TBS, its team first contacted the regional tourism bureau for formal permission to cover the festival. The bureau head reportedly redirected them to local authorities in Aksum, stating that the city’s Peace and Security Bureau was responsible for event accreditation.
However, TBS said repeated requests submitted to both the Peace and Security Bureau and the city mayor received no response. The crew was later informed verbally that they were not permitted to cover the event.
“We were told, ‘you are not allowed,’” the station said in its statement.
Equipment Removed and Phones Searched
When the crew arrived on-site, TBS said they were instructed to dismantle their microphones and cameras placed near the main stage. Journalists were reportedly ordered to leave the area and barred from recording with personal devices. Several phones were searched by local security personnel.
The decision effectively prevented the outlet from documenting the festival, which annually draws hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to Aksum.
Part of a Pattern, TBS Says
The latest incident adds to a series of confrontations between TBS and local authorities in Tigray.
June 2025: A TBS camera crew was arrested in Aksum while reporting on local governance complaints. They were held for several days before being released.
Mekelle Incident: Separately, journalists were detained for several hours while covering protests by former Tigray Special Police members outside the regional police commission.
Wejerat Case (July 27, 2025): A TBS journalist reporting on protests in Southern Tigray faced harassment and restrictions by local officials.
TBS has said these repeated encounters demonstrate an increasingly hostile environment for independent reporting in the region.
Media Freedom Concerns Widen
Media watchdogs say the Aksum incident reflects broader challenges facing journalists in Tigray. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), in an October 21, 2025 report, warned that the region remains “tense and dangerous” for media workers three years after the end of the war.
According to CPJ, journalists in Tigray have been “shot at, detained, raided, and swept up in a local power struggle.” The report also emphasized that while wartime restrictions have eased, local reporting continues to carry significant risks.
“After two years when reporting from Tigray was almost impossible amid war crimes, famine and lengthy communications shutdowns, covering local news remains risky and challenging,” CPJ stated.
Authorities Decline to Comment
Officials in Aksum’s Peace and Security Bureau were not immediately available for comment, and calls to city authorities went unanswered.
A Growing Role in Tigray’s Media Landscape
TBS, headquartered in Mekelle, has expanded its programming in recent years, offering news, community reporting, entertainment, and interviews. The outlet is known for covering governance issues, public protests, and political developments, and it often features perspectives not reflected in state- or party-aligned media.
Media analysts say the station’s increasing public profile has positioned it at the forefront of debates over press freedom and transparency in post-war Tigray.
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