Page 19 - AIB | The Chanel | Issue 1 2013
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IN CONVERSATION
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THE CHANNEL
▼
Rebels with-
drawing, Goma,
November 2012
private media is seen as the enemy
then by association that advertiser
would also be seen as an enemy. So
the environment is really quite
difficult but a lot of progress has
been made. If you look at South
Africa, you have strong private
independent media ‐ the Mail &
Guardian, the Star, and e.tv. South
Africa is a place where private
media is doing a great job next to
public funded broadcaster SABC.
In Kenya, you have strong
private independent media like the
Nation Media Group, the Standard
and the Star. In these two countries
the culture of democratic values
and press freedom have been
improving, likewise in Nigeria.
There you still have strong
government‐sponsored media but
at the same time you have
independent news organisations
such as The Punch, the Vanguard,
ThisDay.
If you take Francophone Africa,
the same applies to Côte dʹIvoire,
Senegal, Niger. The reality is there
has been progress and we are
witnessing an emergence of private
media which is getting stronger.
But at the same time we would
want to see more freedom of
expression, freedom of the press
and we would want to see a
media landscape where private
media can access funding easily
through banks or other
mechanisms and where
advertisers are not afraid to place
their ads within private media for
fear of reprisals.
What's the outlook?
I believe it is absolutely critical to
ʹrebootʹ journalism on the
continent by having ethics and
leadership at its core. When and
where that happens, then media
can thrive. We have seen that
whenever you have a private
independent media which is
credible and doing a great job,
then the state‐funded media tries
to improve its coverage and ups
its game too. So private and
independent media have a huge
role to play in improving the
media landscape on our
continent.
Itʹs also important to
understand how radically news
and information gathering,
production, distribution and
consumption have changed. A
newspaper produced in the capital
city most often takes a day or more
before it gets to secondary cities or
the rural areas ‐ if it ever gets there.
Now if you think about that reality
and compare it to the fact that in
many of these countries people
have their mobile phones on which
they can receive some kind of news
and information from that daily
issue of the newspaper – even if
they are in the remotest area, as
long as they have a mobile phone
and there is network coverage there
– most countries in Africa have
almost 100% network coverage –
they can access news and
information. I am not saying mobile
phones or digital devices should
replace the newspaper but they can
be another way for news
organisations to reach audiences if
they want to stay relevant. And for
African media to have a bright
future, African media leaders need
to keep working within networks.
Amadou Ba, thank you.
THE CHANNEL
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ISSUE 1 2013
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19
”
It is
key to
'reboot'
journalism
by having
ethics and
leadership
at its core
“
▼
Al Jazeera live
fromDRC
▼
AmadouCheikh
Kanoute, Executive
Director, CICODEV,
Bineta Diop,
ExecutiveDirector,
FEMMES Africa
Solidarite,
Amadou Ba, AMI
