Snapshots: An X-ray of Cameroon�s Democracy, Governance and Unification

82. A Crisis of Ethics and Credibility in Cameroon’s English- Speaking News Media: An urgent need for critical self-examination.

343 82 A Crisis of Ethics and Credibility in Cameroon’s English- Speaking News Media: An urgent need for critical self-examination. (Paper presented by Sam-Nuvala Fonkem at the Bamenda Colloquium to mark the World Press Freedom Day jointly organized by Cameroon Multi-Media Council CMMC and Global Information Network GLOBINET on May 8, 2009 at the Jua Hotel). ** Throughout this week and in all the four corners of the globe, media practitioners and civil society have been organizing activities to mark the World Press Freedom Day; an occasion set aside by the UN for the public to reflect on the significance of press freedom and take stock of the ground so far covered to safeguard this freedom and to map out a course of action to promote its ideals. As we observe this day which we, as practitioners, should consider as a day of rededication to the lofty principles of human rights and dignity, it is our sacred duty to critically examine media practice within our local context and provide a clear-sighted perspective regarding the way forward. December next year (2010) will mark the 20th year since the Cameroon National Assembly hurriedly passed a body of laws, pompously referred to by officialdom as Liberty Laws, spelling out the broad outlines of the freedom of association, freedom of movement, and the freedom of the press among others. The public began to witness the mushrooming of political parties, trade unions, and dozens of newspapers sprouting all over the place. This was subsequently followed by the liberalization of the audio-visual media in the year 2000 and we have since witnessed the emergence of dozens of private radio and television stations as well as non-profit community radio stations. In terms of numbers, we can truly assert that the media landscape has undergone a revolution compared to the era of state monopoly 344 over the main channels of mass communication. Many more voices can now be heard in the open market of ideas even though a significant portion of the population can still be considered as voiceless for various reasons. One would have imagined that with this pluralism in media ownership, the autocratic regime of President Paul Biya, who wants to be remembered as the one who brought democracy to Cameroon by his own volition, would at least demonstrate a greater responsiveness to the voice of the people and adjust government policies in accordance with the expressed wishes of the people with regard to the electoral process, the fight against poverty, the respect of human and peoples’ rights and the right to a decent standard of living. Far from it. The exercise of executive powers, according to him, ends with the conjuring of freedoms with the stroke of the pen and any attempt to draw his attention to ensure the respect of those freedoms is an act of sheer ingratitude. Even though Cameroonians speak more freely today than in the previous Ahidjo regime, today’s ruling class has refused to fully respect its side of the bargain, i.e. the social contract regarding the freedom of the press. It has even refused to make a reality of the Right of Information which should allow pressmen and the public access to vital information of public interest. A glaring example of this refusal is the failure to make public the result of a population census conducted in 2005. Although censorship or more precisely prior restraint was only scrapped from the statute books six years after the enactment of the so-called Liberty Laws, the issue of libel and defamation still remains a criminal offense and unless libel is decriminalized, the task of exposing public authorities to public scrutiny remains an uphill task. While it has been quite fashionable and easy to criticize the government for complicating the duties of the media, the media and media practitioners themselves are not entirely blameless and have conveniently avoided the difficult task of critical self-examination in order to identify the bad and ugly side of their practice. 345 The press is the watchdog of society and the question has always arisen as to who should watch over the watch-dog. By nature, the press or the news media do not lend themselves to any institution of oversight other than itself, while the public acts as the collective body that has power to grant or withdraw patronage. The duty to safeguard the freedom of...