Since 19 September 2002, when the present crisis started in Ivory Coast, growing restrictions have been brought on the media, both through government censorship and the threat of mob-violence. Government officials have also publicly blamed the national and international media for stirring up tension in the country, using it as an excuse to curtail media independence. Owned by political leaders, a lot of media are spreading hate messages targeting different political parties, ethnic groups and religions, methods reminding of the Rwanda media before the genocide. In November 2002, in response to rising concerns for the safety of journalists and the overall degradation of the situation in Ivory Coast, Media Action International (MAI), in collaboration with the International Federation of Journalists, International Media Support (IMS) and Communication Assistance Foundation, organized a seminar near Abidjan entitled "Journalism and conflict" to enable journalists to face the challenges of reporting during conflicts, highlighting basic journalist professional standards and their application during conflict situation. The forty journalists and editors who participated in the seminar expressed the wish to continue to work on the question of ethics to improve relations with their colleagues.