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Donors
support to the printed press and radio broadcasting in Sub-Saharan
Africa
Paris,
11 - 13 December 1995
1
- Introduction : objectives of the meeting
New perspectives for democracy and development are
being offered by the current evolution of the printed press and
radio broadcasting in sub-Saharan Africa. The multiplication of
independent newspapers and radios, and the issues this represents,
has led many donors to establish new programmes of support to
these still-fragile sectors. Donors are now seeking ways to enhance
their mechanisms for supporting the sectors.
It is with
this new Africa context in mind that an initial round table meeting
of donors was organised in Paris, from Monday 11 December to Wednesday
13 December 1995.
The meeting
was, above all, a working session about professional, rather than
institutional, objectives. As such, it was a meeting to inform
and to exchange, about the evolution of African media and the
issues involved, about the objectives of aid programmes, methods
of operation, about achievements and their impact. The major concern
was to examine how to enhance existing programmes, whilst avoiding
contradictions and redundant approaches, and tentatively seeking
some possible, common approaches.
2
- The context : rapid and far-reaching changes in the landscape
of african media
2.1 - The early explosion : unsteady, tumultuous beginnings
The emergence of democracy in many African countries was
ushered in by a multiplication of independent media, both from
the private sector and from civil society. Having started in 1987
and 1988, the movement really took off in 1989 and 1990. Initially,
changes took place in the printed press, with an abundance of
new titles in several capital cities ('La Gazette du Golfe' in
Benin, 'Le Messager' in Cameroun, 'Les Echos' in Mali, 'Sud quotidien'
in Senegal, 'Le Jour' in Côte d'Ivoire, etc.)
These early
titles usually bore the hallmarks of poor professional quality,
a small circulation and a shaky financial base. Most of them focussed
almost exclusively, and virulently, on the ongoing political debate,
with the resulting stops, starts, and sideways shifts of this
type of opinion-based journalism. Many had uncertain life-spans.
Freedom of
the airwaves was established more slowly and more arduously. The
first licenses to be issued to new radio stations were in 1990
- 1991. In rural area, it was the radios based on civil organisations
which emerged; commercial radios were set up in urban areas. Mali
was, and remains, the main 'laboratory' of the new pluralism of
the airwaves in Africa.
These trends
were strengthened by the availability of new technologies such
as computers and audio equipment, which were easy-to-use and less
expensive.
The resulting
competitive environment featured the private sector, operating
under market conditions, and the public sector, divesting from
a monopoly position. This permitted the emergence of a dynamic
set of press and radio stations, powerfully legitimate, yet economically
very frail.
2.2 -
The embryonics of professionalisation and structures
The next phase, after the tumult of the beginnings, was to
be marked by professionalisation and consolidation :
- the quality
of the finished product was improved : information was handled
with more rigour, editorial tones were better calibrated, with
less recourse to polemics ;
- journalism-by-opinion
gradually gave way to a form of investigative journalism; journalists
discovered the virtues of reporting and enquiry. Most adopted
a model of 'proximity journalism', focussing on local, and occasionally
regional, realities ;
- the public
media, under pressure from national and international competition,
were forced to improve the quality of their output, to open
up their programming and to gradually shake off their stilted
presentation ;
- sources
of funding were diversified. The role of political parties and
cultural or religious groupings remained important. Some media,
however, such as local radios, attained financial autonomy by
selling time for opinion-editorials and press releases ;
- some commercial
communication groupings developed, often combining press, radio
and television, as was the case in Senegal, Gabon, Madagascar,
Mali, Cameroun...
2.3 -
The main bottlenecks in development of the media
These advances bear witness to a certain maturity of the
media in Africa. Yet, both the printed press and the radio broadcasting
sector remain fragile, and of poor quality.
After a period
of laissez-faire, public authorities are attempting to regain
control of the media. Press freedom is far from being guaranteed
everywhere ;
- the financial
situation of the independent media is still uncertain. Circulation
is low, marketing strategies and distribution are mediocre,
while financial management is too loose ;
- it is
still difficult to gain access to information, both nationally
and internationally. National news agencies, and Pan-African
agencies (Pana) are often not operational. Journalists use few
of the information resources available in their country, due
to lack of means or training ;
- there
is still a time-lag between current practices in the media,
and the relevant legislation about the press, and fixing the
required policy and institutional frameworks. Whilst most states
do have certain regulatory instruments and bodies (such as High
Councils, High courts), the media are forced to evolve in a
sometimes unstable and uncertain legal environment ;
- levels
of journalistic professionalism remain a cause for concern.
Few journalists have completed formal training, improvising
their occupation, as it were, on the job. Editorial staffs are
often poorly organised, with staff changes, and an improvised,
collective style of work. The quality of the finished product,
and thus the possibilities for distribution, show the signs
of these
conditions ;
- despite
some progress made, it is political information which dominates
the media, even outside of electoral periods. The public is
growing weary of this, but journalists still have problems,
evidently, in dealing with topics nearer the interests of the
reading public. Sometimes it is hard to distinguish between
rumour and information, and investigative journalism is still
a minority approach ;
- there
are few representative and reliable organisations for the media
professions. Where they do exist, they are in conflict, at the
cost of possibly bringing more coherent structure to the profession.
2.4 -
Same stakes, different national situations
There is much commonality in the difficulties faced by the
media in all sub-Saharan Africa countries. However, according
to a country's specific conditions, there are still great differences.
Press freedom still depends on the degree of maturity of a country's
political debate, and on the stability of its democratic rules.
West, Central
and East Africa, and the Indian Ocean, each have their own specificities.
In English-speaking Africa, the commercial media are heavily predominant.
Their level of turn-over is often comfortable, and they are driven
by an entrepreneurial ethic. Freedom of the airwaves, on the other
hand, is less developed in francophone Africa.
The end of
apartheid in South Africa has a direct impact on East Africa and
the Indian Ocean. Some powerful commercial groups, largely in
television, are starting to develop activities and to set up agreements
with local press businesses.
3
- Operational goals and strategies
There are two major thrusts in the strategies developed
by donors :
3.1 - Strategy 1 : support for sector consolidation
The first type of strategy aims at supporting the media as
such, and to consolidate these two functions of the sector :
the media
sector, being an unavoidable element of any legal, democratic
state, is both a vector and a guarantor for democracy. The media
enable free expression by all social forces, the development of
public opinion, and transparency in the management of public affairs
;
it is a sector
of dynamic economic activity, especially in terms of job creation.
This economic role is often neglected, or under-valued, by the
management of programmes which provide support to local enterprise.
3.1.1 - Criteria for specific operations
This strategy (support for sector consolidation) has the
following specific criteria for activities :
it provides
a general and undifferentiated type of support to media, both
public and private, commercial and civil society. It aims at providing
general support to the sector through institutional measures (both
legal and economic) ;
the activities
supported are more commonly at national or regional level, than
at local level ;
the strategy
tends to develop those operations which are focussed on training,
support to the structuring and organisation of the media professions,
and all forms of institutional support. Any support towards financial
injections, or access to the media, are only indirect. This strategy,
in overall terms, aims at establishing common media services,
and at helping to adapt the fiscal and legal instrumentarium available
to the media sector.
In most cases,
the donors which have developed such a strategy tend to avoid
any measures which could shape the information content of the
media, or their editorial positions. Through training programmes,
they help journalists to develop their skills in selecting topics,
and dealing with them in a pertinent and rigorous way. The printed
press is often a privileged recipient of such support, in view
of its more important role in the democratic process.
Among the
donors with a strong emphasis on this type of strategy are the
European Union and the French Ministry of Development Cooperation.
3.1.2
- The limitations of these options
There are two major obstacles to this line of strategy :
- it is
difficult to identify partners who are genuinely representative
of the profession as a whole. The European Union and the Rockefeller
Foundation have obviated this obstacle, in part, by entrusting
to outside agencies from the North the tasks of establishing
programmes to help structure the media community, national and
regionally, through formal structures or through networks. This
is the case with RSF - Reporters Sans Frontières, and
Panos respectively ;
- it is
difficult to identify and/or establish common services which
are both valuable to the media profession and financially viable.
3.2 -
Strategy 2 : support for content, and direction of the sector
The second strategy aims at activities which are concerned with
the type and content of information spread by the media, with
the process of communication they can engender, and with the role
of the media in the structuring of civil society. This strategy
regards the media not as a sector as such, but as a information
and communication tool at the service of social, economic and
human development.
3.2.1
- Two approaches
This strategy has two broad approaches :
- One approach
focusses on communication processes, and social communication
in particular. It aims at enabling the media to generate a discussion
about local development and local social trends. In this approach,
the media are seen as the way to give the right of expression
to those groups which are frequently marginalised in such discussions
- working class areas, women, youth. It is a vision of direct,
grass-roots democracy which is the driving force here.
- The second
approach favours using the media as an information tool for
development. It is the nature of information which donors wish
to see disseminated which defines the media, such as the current
economic conjuncture, structural adjustment programmes, participatory
development or decentralisation issues. In this approach, priority
is given to training of journalists, and provision of information
on specific topics.
3.2.2
- Types of activity, and the criteria applied
Local media are the preferred channels for this approach,
usually those based on voluntary or community organisations. Radio
is often the most appropriate medium, for activities in both urban
and rural situations.
Training
programmes are also a principal focus, with emphasis on 'proximity
journalism'. They tend to deal more with individuals than with
groups. Activities supported in this field include the media of
voluntary organisations, representatives of local communities,
and setting up community media - as is done by the ACCT. Support
is often provided in the form of material, equipment, capital
investment and information, directly to the media concerned, on
condition that they can prove their ability to assume financial
responsibility for their programmes.
3.2.3
Difficulties
The three principal obstacles which donors have identified
in this strategy are :
- in the
selection of media partners : it is hard to establish which
partners are genuinely representative of local social groups,
and to avoid creating unfair competition by supporting one partner,
but not another ;
- in the
continuity of activities : it is hard to ensure their continuity,
and to identify and apply reliable criteria which will enable
the partners to achieve financial autonomy ;
- there
is a risk of the media being used as a 'mouthpiece'. To do so
would run counter to the efforts of other donors to train journalists
to provide independent and varied information, and not to simply
pass on messages from above.
Among the
donors working along this strategy are CIDA, CAF and ACCT. UNESCO,
through PIDC, has an intermediary position; it is developing support
programmes for certain local radio station, and it is, in general,
supporting the printed press and some national enterprises (the
Wanad and Canad press agencies, and national presses).
4
- Modes and tools of cooperation
There are various modes of cooperation, and funding
tools and mechanisms. Financial instruments can be singular, or
varied; a funder can work on a unitary basis, or in consortia;
there are several ways in which project partners are involved
in elaborating projects.
Despite the
rich diversity of methods, there are several difficulties which
are broadly shared :
- there
is a discernible lack of enthusiasm on the part of some Southern
partners to get involved in establishing programmes. This is
in part due to the relative novelty of the overall theme, but
especially to the problems faced by donor agencies in identifying
capable bodies, outside the public sector, within Africa ;
- there
is a degree of laxity in dealing with follow-up and evaluation.
Evaluations of programmes are sometimes undertaken too late
in the project cycle to be able to modify the programme ;
- the tendency
of 'compartmentalisation' in donor agencies creates problems
in mobilising sufficient funds and resources. A department dealing
with, for example, small enterprise development is rarely interested
in media projects ;
- some donor
agencies doubt the need for their tools and procedures to evolve.
These are, in fact, more prepared to work with public authorities
than to undertake direct negotiations with private or voluntary
bodies ;
- project
follow-up suffers from a lack of continuity.
5
- Types of activity
There are six major areas of activity which have evolved
around the donors : training ; direct and indirect financial support
; support to production and dissemination ; access to information
and documentation ; improvement of the institutional environment
; support to the structuring of the profession.
Different
emphases are put on each of these activities. Training is the
major focus of virtually all donors, as witnessed by the large
number of action lines in training : skill development, training
audits, technical assistance. Other activities are less developed
; there are many ideas, but achievements so far have been quantitatively
and qualitatively varied.
5.1 -
Training
5.1.1
Achievements
There was a long period when donors (notably Canada, France
and Germany) invested their support in basic training centres
; that is now coming to an end. The school centres find it increasingly
hard to operate, and the number of journalists involved in training
has dropped. Furthermore, in an audit carried out on the training
centres funded by the French development cooperation and the European
Union, some quite critical remarks were made of the centres CESTI
and ESSTIC. The CIERRO centre, altogether less ambitious a project,
is the only centre with adequate quality in training, and a sound
organisation. The donors have let it be known that they will only
resume their investments if the training centres put forward plans
for realistic reform, and involve the journalist profession in
their operations.
Donors have
chosen to focus on professional training, more often than not
on-site. This does not detract from the very real needs for extended
and basic training. On-site training programmes, in fact, deal
with basic skill development as well as with more specialised
(development journalism, sports reporting, election coverage,
etc.). They often include general hands-on training with dummy
newspaper production and writing articles for later publication.
Some programmes have also covered aspects of the management of
press companies.
One other
medium for training is through training exchanges and twinning
between African and Northern journalists. These have allowed some
significant advances in professionalisation, but it remains a
problem area.
5.1.2
Weaknesses
Many training activities are isolated and scattered incidents,
with little overall coherence.
Follow-up
is often inadequate, with little integration of training in broader
project frameworks.
Some
of the journalists selected to participate in a training courses
are not always those with the most need for training ; in fact,
some have become experts in attending courses.
The
analysis of training needs is not always properly attuned to the
needs of national partners.
It
is hard to properly evaluate the impact of training events : there
are insufficient criteria and tools for impact assessment.
The
few African trainers existing seldom involve in training events,
which are often run by Northern specialists.
The
training of trainers is frequently neglected. One rare and recent
exception has been the establishment of a centre for professional
training in journalism in Maputo, Mozambique, by several Nordic
development cooperation agencies.
5.1.3
Towards solutions
Some elements of improvement could include the following
:
- better
selection of candidates for training events ;
- undertaking
evaluation and impact assessment of training events ;
- closer
involvement of national professionals in establishing training
needs ;
- closer
involvement of newspaper proprietors in training programmes
for their journalists, including their financial inputs where
possible ;
- wider
scope of training, to include training for proprietors, editors-in-chief
and secretarial staff in editorial teams ;
- provision
of training to entire teams from a newspaper or radio station,
so as to create a different 'company culture' and to allow a
re-organisation of tasks and positions ;
- more emphasis
on training the trainers, and more regular use of African experts
as often as possible.
5.2 -
Financial support
The following remarks covers both direct and indirect financial
support. Direct support (equipment, material, etc) is usually
provided by those donors whose objective is the structuring of
the civil society. Many donors have their reservations about the
effectiveness of this type of support, or are cautious in their
use of it. Preference is usually shown for indirect support, through
training (in management, acquisition of advertising, etc).
One very
useful approach would be in the area of fiscal legislation (removal
of taxation of paper supply, in accordance with the Florence Agreement).
Similarly useful would be for newspapers, which are often restricted
to the large urban markets, to set up joint sales points in secondary
towns.
Some studies
have been undertaken by the French development cooperation on
the financial viability of the printed press and on the feasibility
of establishing joint economic services (such as central purchasing
of newsprint). They have shown that there is little room for manoeuvre
: centralised purchasing, for example, is not viable, given the
services which are currently offered by printing companies in
this field. Such activities, therefore, need to be carefully assessed,
to ensure that they do not disturb an already precarious market.
A possible
source of financial support worth developing is in the area of
donors contracting with the media for the production of information
on specific topics ; care should be taken to avoid products of
the 'public information' type.
Similar arrangements
could be reached with non-governmental organisations, development
projects, etc. The major difficulty here would be ensure that
the information presented is independent and varied.
It would
be useful also for the media to have access to the lines of credit
which are made available in programmes for supporting private
business. This requires two, parallel efforts. First, to develop
an understanding, on the part of these programmes, of the economic
vitality of the media sector. Secondly, to develop models of credit
support which are appropriate to the specific economic performance
of press business. Some such requests have already been entered
into by the CFD (Caisse Française de Développement).
5.3 -
Support to production and dissemination
Activities in this field can help through cost reduction
or restriction, and through quality improvements, in production.
Certain media are sometimes hampered by capacity problems, in
not being able to fill all their 'air time', or their pages. This
is particularly the case as far as international coverage is concerned.
There have
been several activities in this area, either in co-production,
or in provision of news and feature segments (audio or written),
which lighten the tasks of production of programmes and articles,
without replacing them, since it is up to the journalists to add
the segments into their own productions. Similar approaches include
the operation of programme 'exchange banks' and twinning between
newspapers.
Another useful
activity would be to have contractual agreements between local
and national radio stations to share programmes, by staggering
broadcast times, and on a franchise basis.
5.4 -
Access to information and documentation
Newspapers are hampered also by their access to 'original'
and 'breaking' news being limited by, on the one hand, the high
cost of subscriptions to international news agencies, and the
poor supply of real-time information from national news agencies.
One shining and rare exception is the very dynamic independent
press agency of Haiti. Furthermore, many journalists do not have
a culture of consulting documentary references and make little
use of information available at national level. Most do not have
access to the international wire services, since their tariffs
are, in most cases, prohibitively high.
These problems
have been addressed by including the topics of information searching
and use of documentation in some training events. Much work still
remains to be done in opening up contacts between the media and
ministerial press services, NGOs and development projects.
Finally,
some donors and funders, such as the Francophone Affairs Service
of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the World Bank,
are keen to expand their dissemination of information to the media
through electronic information networks (such as the Internet).
These information flows could, of course, be two-way (South-North).
5.5 -
The legal and institutional environment
In those countries where press freedom is not guaranteed,
priority action is in supporting measures which ensure respect
for the journalist's right of expression, and which open up the
media to pluralism. The European Union has several programmes
in this field. Indeed, the Union intends to emphasise respect
for human rights and press freedom more as conditionalities for
its aid.
In those
countries where press freedom is more or less assured, the accent
is upon the application of the law, the institutional and legal
rules, and the even on drafting of legislation. The French development
cooperation has established an inventory of legislation on the
press in all francophone African countries. Various donors have
provided some support to setting up bodies for legal proceedings,
and to drafting and amending legislation.
There is
a need for great caution in activities in this area :
there is
often a gap between the law as written and the law as practiced.
There is little sense in putting forward sophisticated or rigid
rules in the current situation ;
in some countries,
the situation is not yet ripe for formalising new institutional
or legal rules. Prior to this, it is desirable that there be a
process of awareness-building and information provision by joint
press service centres (European Union) which can act as meeting
points for national authorities and the legal profession (judges,
counsels, barristers).
5.6 -
Support to the structuring of the profession
There are still few joint professional organisations which
are reliable and representative. This relative lack of intermediary
bodies restricts the possibilities for the many donors who wish
to develop activities in organising the media profession. Two
main lines of action have been developed :
- the development
of networks for exchange, meeting and discussion between the
media of various countries, at the level of West Africa (as
supported by the Rockefeller Foundation) ;
- the establishment
of joint press service centres (with support from the European
Union) which can act as meeting points for the media profession,
information centres, press clubs, specialised professional associations...
6
- Conclusions
6.1
- Prospects for further cooperation between donors
All participants at the round-table meeting expressed their
wish to continue their exchanges.
An
initial list of foreseeable activities was drawn up :
- circulation
of available studies on the media sector ;
- establishing
a listing of journalists having (followed) training, or further
development of a listing initiated by the European Union ;
- setting
up a directory of training skills available in the South ;
- circulation
of information (studies and reports) describing the media situation
country-by-country ;
- compilation
of a joint schedule of conditions on the principles and methods
of training events ;
- a joint
discussion and reflection upon the lessons drawn from evaluations
of media support programmes ;
- initiating
a pilot experiment bringing together several donors ;
- referral
of some requests for support to other institutions deemed more
able to respond ;
- information
exchange and a joint reflection upon the selection of the intermediary
professional associations ;
- setting
up joint information activities on the issues, objectives and
media support programmes in various development cooperation
institutions. A first such meeting could be held at the offices
of the World Bank ;
- an on-going
information service on short-term and long-term projects.
6.2 -
Proposals
In order to continue the such information flows and joint
reflection, it is necessary to establish a flexible mechanism
for regular exchange.
It is proposed
to create an informal network of donors active in media support
in Africa. This network should operate in a fashion similar to
that developed by the Bellagio Publishing Network, which brings
together donors active in support to publishing in Africa. A technical
secretariat will be established to service the network, and to
facilitate exchanges among its members (circulating information,
organising meetings... ). The French development cooperation has
proposed to assume part of the responsibility for this secretariat.
The body or person who will provide this secretariat is to be
determined at a later date. GRET will draft the terms of reference
on the functions and activities of this secretariat.
The Rockefeller
Foundation has proposed to make available its property in Bellagio
(Italy) to the network, for holding its next meeting, which could
be in the spring of 1996.
The various
donors who were present at this meeting should be seen only as
a starting circle. There were several other institutions which
had wished to attend the meeting, but were unable to do so : Danish
development cooperation, Swedish development cooperation, Swiss
development cooperation, the United States Information Agency,
the Ford Foundation, and the Friederich Ebert Foundation. In addition,
it would be useful to involve other institutions with important
support programmes for African media, such as German development
cooperation.
Participants
- M. Leysen
Mark; Commission Européenne; Expert Information Communication
et Culture; Belgique
- Mme Zumstein
Johanna ; ACDI ; analyste principale ; changement social Afrique
de l'ouest ; Canada
- M. Lombaerts
Robert; Agence de la Francophonie (ACCT); Directeur des Médias;
France
- M. Jean
Pierre Lamonde ; Agence de la Francophonie (ACCT); Responsable
programme radio locale ; France
- M. Wermester
Etienne ; Ministère des Affaires étrangères
/ Service des Affaires francophones ; Chargé de mission
; France
- M. Bontems
Frédéric ; Ministère de la Coopération
; Bureau des Médias; Chef de bureau; France
- M. Decraene
Denis ; Ministère de la Coopération ; Bureau des
Médias; Chargé de mission presse & radio;
France
- Mme Paquot
Elisabeth ; Gret; Chef du département Communication &
médias ; France
- M. Berqué
Pascal ; Gret ; Chargé d'études au département
Communication & médias ; France
- M. Ondobo
Claude ; UNESCO/PIDC ; Directeur ; France
- Mme Seck
Jeanne ; UNESCO/PIDC ; Chargé de programme ; France
- M. Dufour
Patrice ; Banque Mondiale ; conseiller principal aux relations
extérieures ; France.
- Mr Pwono
Damien M.; The Rockefeller Foundation; Senior Program Advisor,
Arts & Humanities ; Kenya
- Mrs Claessen
Gemma ; Communication assistance foundation (CAF) ; Responsable
de projet ; Pays Bas
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