STREAM

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STREAM

• Strengthening Africas Media
• STREAM 1 African Framework for the Development
  of a Sustainable and Pluralistic Media
• STREAM 2 Report of the Findings of the
  Strengthening African Media Consultative Process

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Context Changes in the media and communications
landscape

• Globalisation of democratisation in 3rd world
• Liberalisation
• Privatisation and commercialisation of state
  media
• Communitarian agenda
• Re-regulation of media

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Contemporary efforts at Media Development in
Africa

• Windhoek Declaration May 3rd, 1991
• CfA Commission for Africa (media as an avenue
  for potential growth and development of Africa)
• GFMD Global Forum for Media Development (donor
  structures)
• AMDI African Media Development Initiative
  (Research 2000 2005)

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STREAM 1

• African Framework for the Development of a
  Sustainable and Pluralistic Media
• Document formed by media lecturers, students,
  international foundations, World Bank, UN
  agencies, African Development Bank and even the
  Peace and Security Department of the AU.
• 40 African countries represented
• Online dialogue and consultations

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Main aims of the STREAM process

• Agree on a shared understanding of state of media
  in Africa
• Agree on concrete recommendations that will see
  more coherent and inclusive set of media
  development interventions in Africa

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Major challenges facing African media

• Media freedom
• Constitutions include freedom of expression
• But media regulation policies from colonial times
  still exist
• Governments have attacked media property
  Zimbabwe
• North African countries continue stiff control
  over information and media distribution (e.g. web
  content control)
• In repressive regimes media is compromised. Bad
  relationship with government.
• Policy
• Issues surrounding defamation and legal
  protection of investigative journalists
• No laws covering new technological environment

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Major challenges facing African media...

• Capacity and standards
• Cant promote good governance if media
  practitioners do not adhere to professional codes
  of conduct
• Low ethical standards
• Lack of computers and internet to access
  information and deliver high-quality stories at
  low cost
• Sustainability
• Small media in many regions are dependent on
  donor support unsustainable
• Lack of access to capital, poor financial
  practice
• Lack of quality and diversity of content
• No high quality local content
• Advertisers pressure content choices
• Imbalance of programming (entertainment,
  religious, civic education, public issues) East
  Africa

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Proposed actions to help develop a sustainable
and pluralistic media

• Freedom of expression and information
• Promote adoption of
• Declaration of Principles on Freedom of
  Expression in Africa
• International freedom of information principles
  and standards
• National laws related to access to information,
  whistle blowing, protection of sources etc.
• Support efforts to repeal criminal defamation and
  insult laws
• Ensure protection of journalists
• Educate lawyers and judiciary on international
  standards related to freedom of expression and
  information

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Proposed actions to help develop a sustainable
and pluralistic media

• Policy and regulation
• Identify poor national laws and promote laws that
  enable rather than stifle the growth of strong,
  pluralistic and sustainable media.
• Promote laws that diminish negative impacts of
  media concentration and promote fair competition
  and ensure diversity
• Promote good corporate governance among African
  media enterprises
• Advocate licensing of community broadcasters in
  Africa
• Promote transforming state broadcasters into
  public-service media operating independently from
  state influence

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Proposed actions to help develop a sustainable
and pluralistic media

• Capacity-building
• Audit existing media training institutions in
  Africa identify problems, develop proposals
• Develop minimum standards for media training
  continent wide competency tests to increase
  academic recognition
• Promote in house training policies continuous
  skills development
• Strengthen links between media and media training
  industry
• Promote media exchange programmes and media
  networks
• Establish regional centres of excellence to
  overcome national media capacity-building
  shortfalls
• Pool training expertise, resources and mentoring
  widen media access to cutting-edge training

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Proposed actions to help develop a sustainable
and pluralistic media

• Sustainability
• Audit all funds available to African media,
  ensure that proposals for funding will ensure
  sustainable media
• Advocate for public funding to create community,
  local and small media
• Research community media sector (help with
  strategy to ensure effective and sustainable
  sector)
• Study the economic conditions (taxes on imports)
  and then advocate for lowering/ waivering taxes
• Advocate removal of unfair competition from state
  media
• Advocate for recognition of media as a
  development sector in its own right and attract
  investor funds

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Proposed actions to help develop a sustainable
and pluralistic media

• Professionalism and Ethics
• Develop way to monitor adherence to professional
  media ethics
• Publicise norms and standards widely help
  ensure they are respected
• Encourage professional networks, forums to
  strengthen media practices in Africa
• African Media Award to reward outstanding media
  practice, entrepreneurship, innovation and
  public-interest journalism
• Promote fair and equitable working conditions for
  women in African media

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Proposed actions to help develop a sustainable
and pluralistic media

• Content
• Ensure respect of cultural and linguistic
  diversity and promote this
• Facilitate with audience surveys for relevant
  content
• Increase awareness of media responsibility to
  address development challenges (health,
  governance, conflict resolution, peace building
  and globalisation)
• Ensure production and dissemination of content
  reflects diversity of interests, opinions and
  voices of all social actors (incl. marginalised)
• Promote use of ICTs to digitize and share content
  across continent

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STREAM 2 (very similar to STREAM 1)

• Meeting of African Journalists in regions to
  ascertain the priorities for strengthening media
  institutions in Africa.
• African consensus
• Local understanding of context
• Evolving agenda of media development
• http//www.uneca.org/africanmedia
• (UNECA and CfA)

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Regions

• Southern Africa
• Francophone West and Central Africa
• Anglophone West Africa
• Eastern Africa
• Northern Africa

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Synthesis of findings

• Each region submitted
• analysis of media practice, ownership, training
  and support
• proposals coverings policy and legislation,
  infrastructure, content production,
  sustainability, plurality and diversity.

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Key issue Media Development

• Not clear what development entails
• Q Development of ..?
• A 1) Independent media
• 2) State, public and private media
• 3) Communications

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Media Development according to the Windhoek
Declaration

• Identify economic barriers to establishment of
  news media (in order to remove these things)
• Train journalists and managers
• Remove legal barriers to formation of
  journalists trade unions associations
• Develop a register of available funds for media
  and how to access it

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Another issue Regulation

• Some countries media freedom has increased (SA,
  Namibia, Zambia Malawi)
• Other countries are concerned about media
  regulations (especially in North Africa
  Tunisia, Egypt, Uganda)

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Enhance media regulation

• Supportive political environment (tolerance
  media policy reform)
• Supportive legal environment (freedom of
  information)
• Enabling economic environment (media fund and
  supportive economic policies)
• Enhanced associational infrastructure (unions and
  support for media professionals)

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Media Production - Education is the key

• Increase skills base of journalists and encourage
  critical thinking
• Advocacy at higher educational institutions for a
  basic level of assessment for journalism
  qualification
• Strengthen existing networks to support and
  increase exchange among media students and
  educators

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Education

• Lobby African governments to increase budget for
  education (particularly media education)
• Use databank of journalism educational
  institutions to research journalism education in
  Africa

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Fund?

• Through the discussions it was realised there was
  a need for a continent-wide media and
  communication support fund (African-led
  initiative)
• While Southern Africa is ahead in terms of
  support mechanisms the rest of the continent is
  still lacking

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Priority Areas for Intervention

• Financing research into setting up a media and
  communication fund for Africa which will
• Provide financial support to media
• Help with international lobbying and advocacy to
  support media in Africa
• Mobilise resources for training and education

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Priority Areas for Intervention

• Supporting media training and education
• Strengthening media support institutions
• Instrumental in advocacy for policy regulation
• Watchdog over the media to ensure media serve
  public interest
• Supporting journalists unions and associations
• Develop professional identity

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Final word to ECA and donors

• Africans know their problems. They know what is
  possible. This is shared across all the
  sub-regions, from north Africa right through to
  southern Africa. They are aware that most of
  their problems are structural. They are also
  aware that they can be agents of change. With a
  little push of assistance, the possibilities for
  change are numerous, and the findings testify to
  that. F. Banda

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