Africa's Media, Democracy and the Politics of BelongingZed Books, 2005 - 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. |
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 |
274 | |
299 | |
Other editions - View all
Africa's Media, Democracy and the Politics of Belonging Francis B. Nyamnjoh No preview available - 2005 |
Africa's Media, Democracy and the Politics of Belonging Francis B. Nyamnjoh No preview available - 2005 |
Common terms and phrases
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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.