Mass media in Africa have undergone tremendous changes in the
last decade. The monopoly by government has been broken. Radio and
television are improving and are gradually becoming powerful instruments
for public information and education. However, despite progress made,
mass media in Africa remains constrained by acute problems including
a lack of financial, human and material resources.
Except in those countries undergoing serious social and political
crises (Sierra Leone, Liberia, Congo-Kinshasa, Congo-Brazzaville,
Somalia) the mass media in Africa have undergone tremendous, and generally
positive, changes in the last decade. As a result of the democracy
movement of the early 1990s, the monopoly of media by government has
been broken. In virtually every African country, private newspapers
are flourishing. Ten years ago, in most French-speaking countries
in West Africa, there was usually just one national daily newspaper;
invariably it was government-owned, with a few privately-sponsored
newspapers struggling to survive as weeklies, biweeklies and monthlies.
Today, in a city like Cotonou, Benin, there are over eight daily newspapers-all
but one are privately-owned-and almost every year, a new title appears
on the street. The situation is similar in virtually every African
country.
But the strongest government media monopoly broken in the last decade
is that of the radio. Government authorities have always considered
radio and television broadcasting as their own cherished territory,
not to be penetrated by private operators. Now, in almost every country
in Africa, private radio stations proliferate, most of them broadcasting
on frequency modulation (FM) Channels, with relatively low output
and coverage area. Similar developments, though not so pronounced,
have taken place in television, with the privatization of ownership
and the proliferation of cable and satellite broadcasting or relay
stations.
The key question however, is whether the increase in numbers has
led to improvements in the quality of production and service to society,
particularly in the promotion of economic and social development.
The answer, in a few cases, is a partial yes; but in most cases, the
conclusion is negative.
The African mass media system, despite its growth, faces age-old
problems stemming from poor ownership structure, a weak financial
base, low quality staff (particularly journalists), lack of access
to information, and conflict with authorities.
Of all the media, newspapers remain the most combative and aggressive
in their efforts to develop editorial independence, open up the society,
and make themselves relevant. In Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Uganda and
Cameroon, not to mention Nigeria under the late General Abacha, newspapers
have been confronting the authorities in their efforts to broaden
the debate on national issues. Unfortunately however, the focus of
many of the newspapers is still overwhelmingly political and personality-oriented,
and less on issues of development. The screaming headlines on the
front pages highlight corruption, political in-fighting, scandals,
or the family crises of personalities. There is much superficial treatment
of news and information.
Radio is supplanting traditional media
Radio is undoubtedly the most powerful instrument for nation-building
in Africa. Given our oral tradition it is a medium through which all
Africans can be reached easily. In fact, radio has picked up as traditional
media systems are being discarded. But, as is often the case in Africa,
dualism also subsists in the media -the old coexisting with the modern.
There is always the tendency to forget that Africa has a rich media
tradition. Indigenous communication systems have always existed to
dialogue, inform, educate, and solve social conflicts. To quote Emmanuel
Ngwainbi, Cameroonian communication specialist, "Rural residents
who constitute the majority of the continent's population use traditional
means to disseminate information: a town crier walks through the village
at night striking his gong to summon villagers to community activity;
a drum beat communicates death, imminent invasion, or the spread of
an epidemic; and the lyrics in publicly performed songs aim to reduce
stress and help workers improve their ethic. Certainly, traditional
communication systems are a marketplace of ideas and skills."
The expansion of radio, particularly rural and community radio, is
reducing the impact of these traditional systems. Unfortunately, radio
broadcasting in Africa has many structural weaknesses. The establishment
of private radio stations has expanded the coverage and the plurality
of information access to many segments of the population, particularly
the urban and peri-urban poor. The negative effects have been the
extreme focus of the private radio stations on commercialism and the
external cultural domination conveyed through their music. Nevertheless,
there are exceptions and reasons for hope. Rural and community radio
stations present opportunities for the dissemination of development
information and public education. This in turn, might guarantee the
survival of the stations, particularly if they respond to the needs
of their listeners for substantive information on the issues that
concern them: health, education for their children, economics, and
so on.
Private television stations are being established
Television in Africa is improving and is gradually becoming a powerful
instrument for public education, entertainment and information, thus
reinforcing Marshall McLuhan's advice that "If you want to change
the world, go to television." African Governments are giving up their
monopolistic control. Private TV stations are being established, and
they are forcing the government-owned stations to wake up. Official
television stations are under pressure to move their focus away from
reporting the activities and official communiqués of the president
and government ministers.
However, many of the new private stations face major problems. Most
of them are underfunded, overly commercialized, and have become re-transmitters
of programs by powerful, Western TV stations. This invasion of African
TV by external programs is mainly due to the weak financial base of
the stations and the lack of local production capacities. Stations
cannot produce because they do not have the equipment. Very often,
there are no cameras to go on a city reportage, not to speak of organizing
the coverage of events in rural areas- unless, of course, the minister
is visiting.
News agencies still have acute problems of resources
The news agency is usually the pillar of the modern media system
in most societies. It is the source of national news and redistributor
of international news to all media houses. This is particularly true
in Africa, where national news agencies enjoy a virtual monopoly in
the collection and distribution of national and international news.
With a few exceptions, African national news agencies are failing
in their task because of acute shortages of resources-human, material
and financial. Working mostly as departments or agencies of government
ministries, the national news agencies suffer the plight of the state
institutions in Africa. But now, African news agencies face a new
challenge, if not a threat: the Internet.
Internet and the New Information and Communication technologies
(NICTs)
Internet's threat to news agencies comes mainly from two factors:
its multimedia capacity; and its democratization of information production,
access and distribution. The monopoly enjoyed by news agencies in
the collection, processing and distribution of news no longer exists.
It is now easy for individuals or organizations to get their information
disseminated throughout the world via the information highway. News
and information can now be packed not only in words, but also in sound,
pictures and moving images! This is a far cry from the one-dimensional
process of information flow in news agencies and its single medium
mode of distribution.
Africa has the world's lowest use of Internet and information technology.
Yet, these offer the greatest hope for the future. The primary commodity
of the 21st Century will be information; information translated into
knowledge, education and savoir-faire.
The role of media in development
In recent years, African journalism has undergone enormous and, generally
speaking, positive change. Coinciding with the general rise in education
levels of the overall population, and especially of professionals,
the training of new recruits in African journalism has substantially
improved. The minimum educational qualifications for young reporters
in several countries is now a university degree or a professional
diploma. However, the improvement which has occurred in the formal
basic training of African journalists has not, in most cases, led
to an upgrading of professional skills.
One of the factors contributing to this paradox is the lack of specialization
among African journalists. Unlike what happens elsewhere in the world,
the news rooms in Africa are filled with general reporters. These
reporters receive daily assignments to cover events and stories in
various sectors, which are sometimes very complex. The result is that
articles are often not based on solid research, or are poorly written
and superficial.
Breaking the vicious circle
One of the direct consequences of this situation is a phenomenon
that I would describe as a vicious circle between journalists and
public authorities. These poorly written articles, based on a lack
of knowledge and expertise, give rise to a certain scorn for journalists
by political leaders who refuse to provide information. They contend
that journalists are badly informed and will simply distort the facts.
Without access to information, the journalist is obliged to quote
the minister in articles which are often misleading and inaccurate,
thus perpetuating the vicious circle.
How does one break this circle? There are several ways: training;
specialization; and the creation of information and communication
units in ministries.
Journalists need to be trained. They need to read more, increase
their access to information sources, including subscribing to specialized
agencies for bulletins, press releases and publications. They also
need to become computer literate. Most African journalists hand-write
their articles and submit them to secretaries for typing. The journalistic
staff of African media must include specialists in the various areas
of development, such as agriculture, education, environment, health,
economy and finance.
In order to facilitate access of the media to information, all ministries
and government departments and institutions should have information
and communication units - in the same way that the private sector
has corporate affairs officers. Such information and communication
officers would:
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