The Oromia Media Network (OMN) is an Oromo news channel headquartered in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, U.S.. OMN is established as a non-profit independent media outlet 501(c)(3) organization, licensed under the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

funded by public donors from the broader Oromo diaspora.

History

Jawar Mohammed Jawar Mohammed (; ግእዝ፡ ጃዋር መሐመድ born 12 May 1986) is an Ethiopian political analyst and activist. One of the founders of the Oromia Media Network (OMN), Jawar was a leading organizer of the 2014–2016 Oromo protests. He h ...

established the OMN following a movement which he called "Oromo first". The "Oromo first” movement later grew into a political campaign, raising funds to establish the satellite TV station, launched 2013, along with Facebook and Twitter accounts using the brand Oromia Media Network (OMN). During the launch, Jawar Mohammed was appointed as an Executive Director. OMN was inaugurated on 1 March 2014. Jawar in his inaugural speech said "We've now liberated the airwaves of

Oromia Oromia (, ) is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. Under Article 49 of 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia, Ethiopian Constitution, the capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa, also called Finfinne. The ...

. We will liberate the land in the coming years." On 1 January 2020, Jawar stepped down from his position on at OMN to join the

Oromo Federalist Congress The Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) (, KFO; is a political party based in Ethiopia that was created in 2012 from the merger of the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement and Oromo People's Congress. Creation In July 2012, Oromo Federalist Democrat ...

and has since been replaced by Girma Gutama. OMN grew to become an influential voice of the youth, known as

Qeerroo Ethiopia's National Youth Movement for Freedom and Democracy, popularly known as Qeerroo, is a social movement organized with ideology of Oromo nationalism in Ethiopia. In traditional Oromo culture the term means "bachelor" or youth but within the ...

, a label which was created in 1990s the

Oromo Liberation Front The Oromo Liberation Front (, abbreviated: ABO; English abbreviation: OLF) is an Oromo nationalist political party formed in 1973 to promote self-determination and the independence for the Oromo people inhabiting today's Oromia Region and Oromi ...

(OLF). OMN and ESAT were both targeted by the Ethiopian government which used Spywares to target journalists working for the stations. The OMN is one of the media outlets which broadcast to Ethiopian audiences from abroad, along with the ESAT. After the drop of charges against the OMN and its executive director on 29 May 2018, the inauguration of the Addis Ababa office was held in the presence of Oromia Regional State Chief Administrator

Lemma Megersa Lemma Megersa (, ; born 26 July 1970) is an Ethiopian politician who served as the Minister of Defense from 2019 to 2020. He was also the president of the Oromia Region and deputy chairman of the ruling party in the region, the Oromo Democrati ...

at the Millennium Hall on 5 August 2018. Lemma in his inaugural speech said "OMN has played a big role in bringing tangible change in the regional state." In June 2020, following the death of Hachaluu Hundessa,

riots A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...

reignited Oromo protests.

was then arrested on 30 June 2020, in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

. OMN’s local office was raided by federal security agents and several journalists were detained. Hachalu gave an interview to the Oromia Media Network (OMN), which had sparked outrage on social media, a week before his murder. The interview was aired with live stream on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

, which was seen by 24,000 viewers.

Programming

Most of its contents are from Ethiopia, but also covers some international news. The majority of broadcasts are in

Oromo Oromo may refer to: * Oromo people, an ethnic group of Ethiopia and Kenya * Oromo language, an Afroasiatic language See also * *Orma (clan), Oromo tribe *Oromia Oromia (, ) is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia and the homelan ...

with some programs in

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

. It has studios located in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

References

External links

Official OMN Facebook

Official OMN website
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809053436/https://oromiamedia.com/ , date=2020-08-09 Television in Ethiopia Television channels and stations established in 2013 Television stations in Minneapolis–Saint Paul Oromo language