Africa's Media, Democracy and the Politics of Belonging

Front Cover
Zed Books, 2005 - Business & Economics - 308 pages
This major study explores the role of the mass media in promoting democracy and empowering civil society in Africa. The author contextualizes Africa within in the rapidly changing global media and shows how patterns of media ownership and state control have evolved and the huge difficulties under which most African media workers labour. The author also explores the whole question of media ethics and professionalism in Africa. The general analysis is supported by a very detailed unique case study of Cameroon. Nyamnjoh is critical of the Western-derived institutional framework for multi-party democracy that overlooks the social realities of African citizens' multiple identities, and their cultural orientation to communal values. He also concludes that African governments have gone very little way in encouraging independent media, but that the media themselves must also share some of the blame.

From inside the book

Contents

In the Name of Democracy The Press and Its Predicaments
25
Stalling Democratisation in Africa
28
Ethnicity and belonging
34
Media Ownership and Control Patterns in Africa
39
Press Freedom and Democratisation in Africa in the 1990s
53
To What Extent Are Journalists and the Media to Blame?
65
Media Ethics Professionalism and Training in Africa
81
On Training and Professionalism
94
Professionalism and Ethics in the Private Press in Cameroon
185
Lack of Professionalism and Adequate Organisation before 1996
192
The Union of Cameroon Journalists UCJ
195
Proliferation of Newspapers
199
Creative Appropriation of ICTs Rumour Press Cartoons and Politics
204
Creative Appropriation of ICTs
205
Political Rumour
209
Cartooning and Democracy in Africa
219

Multiparty Politics in Cameroon
100
Politics in the 1990s
110
The Official Media Belonging and Democratisation
125
The Colonial State and Broadcasting
126
Broadcasting in the Postcolonial OneParty State
128
Broadcasting in the 19905 CRTV and the democratic process
138
Cameroon Tribune SOPECAM and the Democratic Process
154
The Legal Framework and the Private Press
161
Critical Analysis of the 1990 Media Law
168
The Law as Interpreted by Government
170
The Law as Interpreted by the Press
175
Modification of the 1990 Media Law
181
Liberal Democracy Victim of a Partisan and Ethnic Press
231
Polarisation in the Press
234
The Politics of Belonging
237
Press and Politics of Belonging from 1996
243
Press and Politics of Belonging Prior to 1996
245
Conclusion
249
Communications Policies in Africa Lessons from the West
254
Critical Appraisal of Western Ownership and Control Policies
255
References
274
Index
299
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

Popular passages

Page 13 - expanding rapidly, and almost all countries have some form of local or internationally hosted web server, unofficially or officially representing the country with varying degrees of comprehensiveness", although in general these websites are underused (Jensen 2000: 217).
Page 293 - Media and Democracy: Theories and Principles with Reference to an African Context, Harare: Sapes Books.
Page 288 - A. (eds) ( 1995) Between Liberalisation and Repression: The Politics of Structural Adjustment in Africa, Dakar: CODESRIA Books.
Page 297 - Ugboajah (ed.), Mass Communication, Culture and Society in West Africa, London: Hans Zell, pp.

About the author (2005)

Dr Francis B. Nyamnjoh is associate professor of sociology and head of publications and communications with the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA). Dr Francis B. Nyamnjoh is associate professor of sociology and head of publications and communications with the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA).

Bibliographic information