Twenty years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom

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Section 4: Access to Information Covering Africa for African audiences ...via non-African news flows By Professor Umaru A. Pate Umaru A. Pate is a Professor of Media and Society and <strong>the</strong> Chair, Department of Mass Communication, University of Maiduguri, Borno State in North East, Nigeria. The global debate in <strong>the</strong> ’70s and ’80s about a New World Information and Communication Order (Nwico) can be declared dead, but it needs to be revived. The Nwico debate was principally provoked by reporting on Africa, and o<strong>the</strong>r developing countries, with regard to <strong>the</strong> quantity and quality of coverage by international news media. Critical concerns were raised by <strong>the</strong> developing countries about negative and insufficient media coverage, and <strong>the</strong> resulting poor images on <strong>the</strong> international scene, as well as <strong>the</strong> bombardment of a one-way flow of information from <strong>the</strong> Western world. There was minimal opportunity for <strong>the</strong> continent to constructively cover its own stories and define unique personalities. Back <strong>the</strong>n, developing countries were encouraged to streng<strong>the</strong>n media relationships among <strong>the</strong>mselves. The idea was that instead of relying on Western media and news agencies, <strong>the</strong>y could be <strong>the</strong> major sources of news about <strong>the</strong>mselves. The local media were encouraged to accord increased positive attention to issues of fellow emerging nations. But a study in 1992 of <strong>the</strong> reporting of international news in <strong>the</strong> Nigerian press over a period of 10 <strong>years</strong> found that despite <strong>the</strong> huge influence of <strong>the</strong> country’s Afrocentric foreign policy, <strong>the</strong> local press still concentrated <strong>the</strong>ir foreign news coverage on <strong>the</strong> issues of conflicts and politics and <strong>the</strong> direction was dominantly negative. Although <strong>the</strong> general focus was overwhelmingly African, it was also mostly on countries which shared historical and linguistic ties with Nigeria. Francophone neighbouring countries received very little coverage despite <strong>the</strong>ir physical and psychological proximity. “Francophone neighbouring countries received very little coverage despite <strong>the</strong>ir physical and psychological proximity.” The Nigerian media relied heavily on <strong>the</strong> big news agencies for news on <strong>the</strong> neighbouring countries as <strong>the</strong>y could not afford to despatch correspondents <strong>the</strong>re. More importantly <strong>the</strong>y could not transcend <strong>the</strong> variation between French and English languages and <strong>the</strong> linkages between <strong>the</strong> Media in Africa - 2011 | 179
individual countries and former colonial powers (Pate, 1992). The pattern has not changed substantially in 2011; reportage of international news has still not shifted from <strong>the</strong> traditional areas of conflicts, politics and an emphasis on <strong>the</strong> negative and dramatic (Musa, 2011). This is despite <strong>the</strong> expansion and increased sophistication in <strong>the</strong> Nigerian media industry, and it is mainly due to <strong>the</strong> continued dependence on <strong>the</strong> same sources of international news plus incorporation in <strong>the</strong> global media market. Thus even though <strong>the</strong> press in Nigeria may wish to report in line with Nwico, reliance on <strong>the</strong> international news carriers means reportage depends on <strong>the</strong> definition and selection of <strong>the</strong>se big agencies. This situation is compounded by globalisation, characterised by market liberalisation, <strong>the</strong> dominance of <strong>the</strong> ICTs by <strong>the</strong> West, and glaring technical and financial weaknesses of <strong>the</strong> media in Africa – thus perpetuating <strong>the</strong> hegemonic control of <strong>the</strong> West (Pate, 2007). “...reportage of international news has still not shifted from <strong>the</strong> traditional areas of conflicts, politics and an emphasis on <strong>the</strong> negative and dramatic.” It is evident that <strong>the</strong> earlier hope invested in <strong>the</strong> Nigerian media and indeed those of o<strong>the</strong>r developing nations is increasingly waning, despite <strong>the</strong> continued 180 | Media in Africa - 2011 relevance of <strong>the</strong> structural challenges that led to <strong>the</strong> call for <strong>the</strong> new communication order. One outcome is that even local news in <strong>the</strong> Nigerian press does not substantially differ from that on <strong>the</strong> foreign pages: conflicts, issues of politics and an emphasis on <strong>the</strong> negative and sensational receive substantial attention (Oso, 2011). There should be a re-conceptualisation of Nwico in view of <strong>the</strong> ongoing intensification of globalisation. Media professionals such as in Nigeria need some reorientation to reclaim <strong>the</strong> spirit of <strong>the</strong> call for <strong>the</strong> new order. At <strong>the</strong> foundation, <strong>the</strong>y need to be encouraged to treat information and communication as a social good and an entitlement for every citizen and nation, based on what is good and clearly reflected in <strong>the</strong> content of <strong>the</strong> press. REFERENCES: Musa, Muhammed (2011) “Pan-Africanism or globalizing capitalist modernity? The dilemma of African media in <strong>the</strong> 21st century”, African Communication Research. Vol 4, No 1. Oso, Lai, and o<strong>the</strong>rs (2011) “Socio-Historical context of <strong>the</strong> Development of <strong>the</strong> Nigerian Media”. In Oso, Lai and Pate, U.A. Mass Media and Society in Nigeria. Lagos: Malthouse Press. Pate, Umaru A (1992) “Reporting African Countries in <strong>the</strong> Nigeria Press: Perspectives in International News”, Africa Media Review. Vol. 6, No.1. Pate, Umaru A (2007) “Rethinking <strong>the</strong> New World Communication and Information Order in <strong>the</strong> era of Globalization”. In Dada, JP and Armstrong, M.A. Issues in History and International Studies. Makurdi: Aboki Publishers.
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MEDIA IN AFRICA Twenty</str
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This work is licensed under <strong
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A small publisher gets technology t
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Foreword By Janis Karklins Janis Ka
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This is MISA By Kaitira Kandjii Kai
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overview overvie Overview
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What then have bee
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and the results we
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critical to journalism as well as t
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matters. Some people could, for ins
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two publications for six months on
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4.2.2 Criminal defamation A major o
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as they made point
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Journalists at work, interviewing S
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5.4 Tabloid success One area where
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Journalists is that its strength re
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proposed codes not only for African
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Studies; African Communication Rese
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Overview Correlating this picture i
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that nourish journalism are not end
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watchdogs. A profile of Ugandan jou
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FREEDOM Freedom
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independent Namibia, set th
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Sierra Leone 39. Mr. Paul Kamara, E
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media that was independent of gover
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The February working session includ
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Media making for socio-political de
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timate the importa
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in corruption. The international co
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African journalists need protection
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Tribute to a committed photojournal
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Section 1: Freedom Anton Hammerl, a
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African media should inspire unders
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information and the</strong
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majority of the ca
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party of President Robert Mugabe to
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The real reasons for the</s
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Thus, the self-reg
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But the legacy of
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A visitor to Harare on a cold 19 Ju
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PLURALIS
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At the time, <stro
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Circulation of newspapers in South
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Misreading the mar
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African media have generally perfor
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Around Africa, the
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Community radio stations across Afr
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Fresh air-waves in Zambia By Mike D
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and consequently undermines media c
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How we started The Observer By Jame
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“Is media in the
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Audience research is essential By G
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to adopt applications beyond basic
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most popular stories, readers could
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While CJs are encouraged to monitor
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nected machines and a long waiting
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ties, as well as the</stron
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The CKWs already in the</st
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terms of the numbe
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to become commercially viable. O<st
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visuals and easy-to-read text). The
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INDEPENDEN INDEPENDENCE
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elow US$ 5-million. This was <stron
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Challenges of organising journalist
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Twenty years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom

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