Accountability systems
It is impossible to talk about accountability of the Congolese media. Compared to consumers (listeners, readers, viewers), the Congolese media behave rather opportunistically. In many cases, they report only on current political issues, leaving aside other issues of economic, social, development or human rights concerns. In relation to themselves and the professional rules (ethic and deontology) that govern them, this accountability is even less. First of all because of the weaknesses of the professional structures that struggle to impose the respect of ethics and deontology. Secondly, because of the absence of contractual mechanisms in the media, concerning the professionals who periodically work without pay. The absence of salaries in the media dangerously exposes the independence of professionals, especially in relation to their sources. In most media, professionals are paid by their sources to publish certain stories or advertise certain events that the source is involved in (this type of payment is generally called coupage). This long-standing practice is a form of corruption known to all media owners, public and private, and has unfortunately become a consecrated mode of operation. Sponsors of articles and media programs pay for time to be anchored, or even sometimes to attack an adversary, especially in the political sector. Finally, the weakness of protective institutions in general and of institutional justice in particular, does not allow for the establishment or strengthening of the revocability of the media. They relay the practice of corruption through impunity. In general, they do not know much about the importance of protecting the freedom of the press as a fundamental value in the democratic governance of modern states.