Mass Media and Democratisation in Cameroon in the Early 1990s

Chapter Four: The Private Press

109 Chapter Four The Private Press In this chapter, the basic assumption is that the private press and their practitioners best serve democracy not only by informing their readership on the virtues of democracy, but by applying democratic instruments themselves. Being professional by being objective and neutral mediators is the best way for the media to unite society around a democratic culture. (i) The Private Press and the Journalism of Excesses If the law on Freedom of Communication and its implementation have made it difficult for the private press to operate freely and to contribute to the democratisation of society by providing access to alternative voices, the private press has on its part, compounded that difficulty with its unprofessional practice of journalism. The private press has seen democracy in purely political terms, and defined the democratic process as the struggle between those who have Cameroon’s best interests at heart and those who are out merely to satisfy selfish interests and greed for power. Depending on what side of the political spectrum a paper finds itself, truth is either from the opposition or the government. There is little respect for evidence. Journalism has become an exercise in turning a blind eye on the shortcomings of those a paper supports, while highlighting and/or exaggerating the weaknesses of those a paper opposes. This part of the study, in essence argues that such partisan journalism, no matter how attractive it may be to people desperate for change or desperate to maintain the status quo, is 110 little informed by the professional canons of honesty, accuracy and fairness. The ability of politicised or partisan journalism to give all sides of a story, to avoid biased language, comment and opinion in news-stories and reports, to dwell on issues and avoid ad hominem remarks, has been crippled by the tendency to break Cameroonians down into the “righteous” and the “wicked” depending on whether they are in opposition or in government. The impression is given that being good or bad is much less a question of what one is or what one does than a question of where one stands politically. Such partisanship blinds the journalists to their professional beliefs and ethics, and to the fact that “leur mission ... est d’éclairer le public, et non pas de l’endoctriner” (Owona, 1995:135). In the current democratic process, the Cameroonian journalists (both official and private) have been accused of professional impropriety, not only by government and other prominent political actors, but by the general public and even by fellow professionals at home and abroad. The press has been accused of “journalistic hooliganism,” of “observing a conniving silence” over certain happenings, while being “irresponsible and reckless” in reporting others; thus bringing Cameroon “to the brink of civil war”.176 The private press has been accused of using “la facilité et la frivolité” to mask “ses nombreuses lacunes”.177 As Grégoire Owona remarked of the press shortly after the October 1992 presidential elections178, “la mode actuellement au Cameroun est à l’invective, à la dénonciation, à la calomnie et même à l’injure. [....] Et tous ceux qui calomnient et dénoncent veulent apparaître aux yeux 176. Ngoh Nkwain, Cameroon Post Nq 41 Thursday August 30 September 6, 1990, p.4 177 see Keye Ndogo (Jeune Afrique Nq 1781 du 23 février au 1er mars 1995, p.64) 178 Le Messager Nq 281 du 17 octobre 1992, p.14 111 du public comme des héros, menacés et persécutés.” On his part, Albert Mbida179 accuses the critical private press of selecting for insults, defamation and scandals only public authorities or individuals sympathetic with the government. Thus giving the impression members of the opposition – including even those who have served in government before – are beyond blemish. “Qu’attend la presse privée “indépendante” pour nous révéler les scandales politicofinanciers de certains leaders de l’opposition,” he asks. Ahanda, in the same paper, makes the very point in his letter to the journalists of the anti-government private press, the insinuation being that this press, essentially Bamileke-owned and Bamilekecontrolled , is observing a conniving silence over the financial misdeeds of the Bamileke businessmen and opposition politicians: “Pour être honnête, j’ai beaucoup admiré la détermination avec laquelle vous avez traqué et dénoncé les “fossoyeurs” du Cameroun. Mais je dois quand même reconnaître que tous, vous avez...