Francis Nyamnjoh

West Africa: Unprofessional and unethical journalism

By Francis Nyamnjoh

In the name of freedom

The current democratic process in West Africa has brought with it not only multipartyism, but also a sort of media pluralism. In almost every country the number of private newspapers increased dramatically with the clamour for more representative forms of democracy in the early 1990s. Some countries have also opened up the airwaves while others are still lagging behind. The fact that since independence African governments largely resisted private initiative in the area of broadcasting and waited till the pro-democracy clamours of the 1990s even to contemplate weakening their radio and television monopoly is but a logical continuation of their colonial heritage.

"For Many are Called but Few are Chosen": Globalization and Popular Disenchantment in Africa

Francis B. Nyamnjoh

African Sociological Review, 4(2), 2000, pp.1-45

Defined as the compression of time and space or 'the intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa' (Giddens, 1990:63-78), globalization is seen as a process of accelerated flows of capital, consumer goods, people, and products of culture and knowledge (especially in the form of electronic audiovisual images (cf. O'Brien, 1993; Appadurai, 1996; Thompson, 1999; Geschier & Meyer, 1998; Gray, 1998).

Children, Media and Globalisation: A Research Agenda for Africa

By Francis B. Nyamnjoh

Published in: Cecilia von Feilitzen and Ulla Carlsson (eds), Yearbook 2002: Children, Young People and Media Globalisation, The Unesco International Clearinghouse on Children, Youth and Media: Nordicom Goteborg University, pp.43-52).

If globalisation is a process of accelerated flow of media content, to most African cultures and children it is also a process of accelerated exclusion. While African cultures are marginalized by the streamlined information and entertainment menu served by global media conglomerates, the bulk of African children are only spared by the fact that global availability is not synonymous with global affordability.

Media ownership and control in Cameroon: Constraints on media freedom

By Francis B. Nyamnjoh

The government of Cameroon shows that it is more interested in containing the media politically than in providing its proprietors and practitioners the enabling economic environment they need for professional excellence and financial independence. This has brought about the underdevelopment of the press by imposing on it a series of constraints. No one who knows what a newspaper looks like (in content and form) in Nigeria, Kenya, or South Africa, would take seriously what in Cameroon passes for newspapers.

State of the Media in Botswana, 2001

By Francis B. Nyamnjoh

Introduction
The 2000 report on media-government relations in Botswana sounded a relative note of optimism, which has been seriously tempered by events and developments in 2001. Relations between the government and the media have grown tenser, and mutual suspicion between the two has increased remarkably. It would appear that both are fast catching up with the reality of government-media relations elsewhere in Africa, making Botswana’s commitment to liberal democracy under increasing scrutiny. What accounts for such change of tone and direction? In what way have the media and the government given each other reason to rethink the importance of tolerance and freedom of expression as the foundation of liberal democracy in Botswana?

The State of the Media in Southern Africa 2000: Botswana

By Francis Nyamnjoh

Introduction
The main development in Botswana in 2000 was in the area of broadcasting. The press, of course, continued to play an active role in the promotion of civil society and democracy. MISA Botswana monitored and reported accordingly on media related issues, and in November there was a sub-regional workshop on Cartoon Journalism and Democratisation in Southern Africa, at the University of Botswana. As the report shows, government-media relations are not, comparatively speaking, characterised by hostility. But there is no room for complacency.