State-run Radio Comoros, transmitting from Grand Comore, was not strong enough to send clear signals to the republic's other two islands.
In 1984 France agreed to provide Radio Comoros with funding for an FM (frequency modulation) transmitter strong enough to broadcast to all three islands, and in 1985 made a commitment to fund a national newspaper after a United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) study revealed that the Comoros was the only UN member lacking print and electronic media.
There are a number independent commercial FM radio stations in the country, Radio Tropique FM, one of the first, began broadcasting in 1991, although it and its director, political activist Ali Bakar Cassim, have occasionally been the object of government ire.
Representatives of the independent media have occasionally been rounded up along with other critics of the government during the republic's recurrent bouts of political crisis.
However, freedom of speech is generally respected and outlets such as Radio Tropique FM and L'Archipel, which is noted for its satirical column, "Winking Eye", continue to provide independent political commentary.