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IntroductionThe African Media Barometer is the first in-depth and comprehensive description and measurementsystem for national media environments on the African continent. It is motivated bya number of reasons:• On 1 February 2005, several media organisations, among them the MediaInstitute of Southern Africa (MISA) and the International Press Institute (IPI),have expressed their concern over NEPAD’s ongoing African Peer ReviewMechanism (APRM) to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, saying: “The AfricanUnion has devised the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) on goodgovernance, underscoring that the APRM is designed to foster democracy inAfrica. Yet, the APRM’s good governance criteria have a serious defect in thatthey omit a key requirement for good governance: the fostering of free andindependent news media.” Furthermore, the Review Mechanism was developedand is carried out by government agencies with no or not sufficient involvementof civil society organisations and those who are affected by government policies.The African Media Barometer is meant to overcome these defects in regard to themedia.• Media in Africa are the topic of numerous national or regional studies mainlywritten by scholars for national or regional consumption. There is no mechanismto achieve results that give an overview over the state of the media that wouldenable readers to compare developments in various countries.• International freedom of the press surveys such as the one annually produced bythe New York-based Freedom House collect data from correspondents overseas,international visitors, findings from human rights and press freedomorganisations and a variety of news media. The criteria are set and the dataevaluated at headquarters.The Friedrich Ebert Stiftung’s Southern African Media Project and MISA took the initiative tostart the African Media Barometer in April 2005, a self assessment exercise done by concernedand informed citizens in each particular country according to a number of general, homegrowncriteria. The benchmarks used have to a large extent been lifted from the African Commissionfor Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) “Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expressionin Africa”, adopted in 2002, and attached to this report as appendix 1. (It was largelyinspired by the groundbreaking Windhoek Declaration on Promoting an Independent and PluralisticAfrican Press [1991] and the African Charter on Broadcasting [2001].) The ACHPR isthe authoritative organ of the African Union mandated to interpret the African Charter onHuman and Peoples’ Rights which is binding for all member states.42 indicators (see appendix 316, page ) have been developed divided into four sectors:1. Freedom of expression, including freedom of the media, are effectively protectedand promoted.2. The media landscape is characterised by diversity, independence and sustainability.3. Broadcasting regulation is transparent and independent, the state broadcaster istransformed into a truly public broadcaster.4. The media practice high level of professional standards.At the core of the exercise is a panel of ten women and men in each state examined, comprisingof personalities with high standing in their respective countries. Half of the panelists have amedia background (e.g. journalists, activists, owners, editors), the other half come from civilSo This Is Democracy? 2005-170-Media Institute of Southern Africa