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Hundreds of newspapers and dozens of radios and television stations crowd the mediascape in DRC. The country is home to more than 4,000 media professionals. Following decades of dictatorship, a chaotic democratization process, and five years of war, the media sector is in desperate need of reconstruction. Despite the damage inflicted on it by corruption and violence, the media remains a vital actor: it has an important role to play in the peace process and in helping to bring about fair elections to bring the period of transition to an end and allow the nation to move forward.