❑ The Harari community's engagement
with modern media started with the
emergence of Amharic radio
broadcasting in Ethiopia in 1941.
Many members of the community
became fluent in Amharic through
social interactions with Amhara
residents in the city. Furthermore, a
significant portion of the Harari
population was highly literate in
Arabic, allowing them to access news
broadcasts from Arabic-speaking
countries.
❑ A significant development in Harari
media occurred after a wave of
emigration prompted by the Derg
government's confiscation of
agricultural land in the 1970s. This
event further impoverished the Harari
community, which triggered
widespread immigration, aggravating
the minority status of the community.
❑ Concerned about the deteriorating
situation of their community, a group
of migrants in Toronto founded a
media organization that started a
monthly Journal called SHAHAN
(Society for the Harari Heritage and
National Advancement).
The journal is credited with enhancing
the proficiency of the Harari language
and significantly raising the social and
political awareness of the Harari
community. The establishment of the
Harari regional government in 1992
improved access to media, leading to
the introduction of Harari-language
publications, such as *Harari Taba*,
as well as radio and television
content in both Harari and Oromiffa.
❑ In 2020, another wave of farmland
confiscation occurred, depriving the
Harari people of what little had been
left from the previous confiscations.
This situation prompted the
establishment of several private
Harari media organizations, with the
International Harari Media Service
(IHMS) being the most notable
among them.