Media Regulation in Cameroon

This study examined media regulation in Cameroon from 1990 to the present. The main interrelated research questions addressed in the study are: does Cameroon have an enabling legal environment that can enhance media freedom and freedom of expression? Have the national authorities provided a suitable legal framework to support and strengthen the development of free and autonomous media?

Main Findings

Media regulation is used by the authorities as a form of control and limit to press freedom and investigative journalism instead of organization and protection of press freedom. The liberalization of the media space came with a paradoxical face, with liberal traits mixing with authoritarian characteristics. Press freedom is guaranteed by the constitution and regularly exhibited by the authorities to demonstrate their democratic commitment. However, informal strategies are developed to limit the potential “watchdog” role of the media, and especially to reduce their capacity to criticize any shortcomings in the management of public affairs and to make other perspectives than the official views available to the citizens The study concludes that one of the major threats to freedom of expression and media freedom in Africa is the failure on the part of most governments to liberalize media laws. As we have seen in the case of Cameroon, even where there is such liberalization in principle, the government has always tended to introduce indirect strategies to curtail media freedom and journalistic autonomy. Thus, there is limited optimism for freedom of expression and media freedom for what the media supposedly gains by the new law is taken away in the same law by more severe provisions that have enhanced the arbitrary powers of the administrator. Despite government claims about the democratic character of the media sector, Cameroon does not provide an enabling environment for the media and its professionals. The media landscape is a mix of democratic features and authoritarian traits. Its media landscape encapsulates this situation. Hence, its media system can be referred to as “pluralist authoritarian”. Thus, exploring media regulation in Cameroon through the prism of the “pluralist-authoritarian” paradigm gives a clearer, more holistic, and broader picture of the issues at stake.