ROLE OF THE MEDIA


There was only one newspaper in circulation after Cameroon gained independence in 1961.


advance. Blackstone had, as early as 1765, opined that: “The liberty of the press is indeed essential to the nature of a free state. Every free man has an undoubted right to lay what sentiments he pleases before the public; to forbid this is to destroy the freedom of the press; but if he publishes what is improper, mischievous or illegal, he must take the consequences of his own temerity.”9 From an economic point of view,


The extent to which the media


plays its role as the fourth estate in Cameroon remains limited. The government is very sensitive to what is published in the private press; the latter is often denied access to information concerning many governmental activities. The opposition too have become


very vocal in Parliament. Much emphasis is laid on declarations made outside Parliament by members of the ruling party. The opposition is scarcely heard beyond the confines of Parliament house and the democratic process is consequently impoverished. This implies that the media is


not only informing the electorate erroneously of the work of its representatives but actually denying it the right to know what the representatives of both the party in power and the opposition are doing and saying, how they address the many issues that confront the nation and to what extent they articulate in Parliament the grievances of their respective constituencies. However, there is no gain in saying that democracy is slowly but steadily gaining ground in Cameroon. The fact is that the institution


of Parliament within a democratic environment requires much media attention. Parliament and media are institutions that should stand


alone but it is submitted that close collaboration between them is a necessary adjunct to the evolution of the democratic process. But be it in Cameroon, Africa or


all other Commonwealth Countries, media freedom suffers from legal restraints as conveyed by the following.


Legal constraints on media freedom Today, the legal arsenal on press freedom is voluminous. A critical survey of statutes relating to the regulation of the media, its organs and personnel shows that the majority of constraints on the media do not emanate from legislation but from governmental edicts and regulations. The Parliaments of many democratic countries are very reluctant in enacting detailed laws concerning the media, its organs and personnel and when they do, detailed regulation is left to government and the administration. More critical is the interpretation that is accorded these laws, statutes and regulations by the courts. The legal stance on freedom of


the media is to the effect that, subject to the civil and criminal restraints upon publication, any person, association or corporate body may publish a newspaper or magazine without getting official approval in


22 | The Parliamentarian | 2014: Issue Three - Cameroon


this liberty is unlikely to be exercised in all Commonwealth countries in the same manner and form. Thus, while in the technologically advanced Commonwealth countries the tendency is to restrict merger and prevent monopoly of the media, the opposite is true with regard to the less developed countries. In African countries, advertising in and the selling of print media and radio products are the main income generators for those in that industry. These have not brought much financial successes to the proprietors. The fact is that very few opposition and really independent newspapers and radios can procure advertisements from other businesses. The business community is not only reluctant to invest in the private media but is often afraid of government reprisals if they advertise their products through it. Newspapers are consequently in debt at all times. In the area of broadcasting, economic and technical reasons have so far limited access to this medium by the private sectors of African countries. Indeed, privately owned audio visual media is yet to flourish in many African Commonwealth countries. In the technologically advanced Commonwealth countries, it is only technical reasons that have prevented the medium being open to all as is the case with the print media.


The licensing system in Cameroon and other African Commonwealth countries In Cameroon, all that is required of any person, natural or corporate, who desires to enter the print media business is that a declaration be made to the local administrative


authority before the publication of its first edition of the newspaper or magazine he/she intends to publish, containing the name, its periodicity, head office, the names of its proprietor or proprietors, the names of the manager or managers, the name of the printing press where it will be produced and the names of the members of its editorial board.10 Where the proprietor is a single natural person he is required to be automatically the manager and where they are two or more natural persons as proprietors, they are all required to be co-managers.11


This requirement


has far reaching consequences in respect of civil and criminal liability in the event of the commission of the various offences attaching to press freedom contained in that very law. There are no statutory restrictions


concerning foreign investors as obtains in many of the developed Commonwealth countries. All that is required is that the owner of a press organ be resident within the country. The rationale behind this loose prior control is that businesspeople do not regard the print media as a lucrative venture and thus no effort is made to attract investors even from abroad. The most stringent legal constraints are a posteriori to the establishment of the press organ. This analysis is true for most African Commonwealth countries. As concerns the audio visual


media, African Commonwealth countries still demonstrate a marked reluctance to open the medium to the private sector. There are not very many privately owned radio organs and the conditions for owning a private television broadcast enterprise are very prohibitive. Aside from its huge capital investment, the government requires certain sums to be made available in a bank account before the licence is granted. Thus, while the United Kingdom,12 New Zealand,14


Australia,13 Cyprus15 and many


other technologically advanced Commonwealth countries have adopted or contemplate legislation to curb monopoly and restrain foreign investment in the media, African


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