Cameroon Public Utilities Forum

The Media   

Thanks to liberalisation, there are now over 100 local press organs in Cameroon. These include a growing number of private press with improving newspaper distribution and circulation networks in the country. Foreign press organs are also increasing their presence in Cameroon. The state owns a national radio and television corporation (CRTV) that runs a television station and a network of about 14 radio stations in the country. Several private radio and television stations are now operational. Computers and the Internet are also gaining ground as viable information, education and entertainment media in Cameroon.

No one doubts the overwhelming importance of relevant information in any society. Yet, in Cameroon, the media continues to be noted for not giving much attention to substantive issues in the public interest, and for not taking seriously the importance of impartiality, balance and objectivity in issue presentation, especially when it comes to reporting politics, the increasing number of media organs notwithstanding.

There are several well known reasons why Cameroon journalists and their media houses appear to ignore substantive issues and are biased in their media coverage. Ralph Sanjo, of the then Stitch newspaper, spoke bluntly at an EITD Research seminar (1998): "Personality politics seems to sell papers these days. Several journalists subsist thanks to kick-backs (protection and brown envelops) from covering stories with personality bias. Substantive issues have no such god father or mother. Papers dealing with them must rely on the market. People don't read much, and journalists have to make a living."

For example, we have been organising press conferences to keep the public informed on issues in our test case before the Kumba court of first instance. Some of the journalists who had been turning up for the meetings suddenly stopped coming after the second conference. They sent a delegate to present their reasons for not coming to the third meeting and for not making the most of the press releases we issue at the conferences. Their delegate told us that the journalists had nothing against the meetings we were organising, except that they could not keep coming and reporting our story if we could not meet their transportation and other writing costs. That the entertainment we provide at our meetings was good but not enough! We have had to carry on without them, since we are unable to meet their cost demands. 

The transition from a command economy to one based on free market competition is proving particularly demanding for Cameroon media houses and their journalists. To ethically present substantive issues in the media, journalists do not only have to depend on facts and avoid favoring one side to the disadvantage of another. They also have to ensure the accuracy of their facts and give equal weight to different sides in their stories – a challenging task that depends on the journalist’s capacity to identify public issues and analyze them adequately. Often a strategic commitment to the emerging market economy and democratic governance, together with a responsive corporate structure are so critical, if media practitioners are to narrow gaps between their economic and editorial judgments.