Journalism under digital siege
“Journalists are working in a precarious environment exposing them to temptation and non-respect of the guidelines of the profession” Cameroon’s communication minister Rene Emmanuel SADI admitting the weakness of the media landscape in Cameroon.
Cameroon as of date has over 150 urban radios, 50 community radios, about 700 newspapers, 100 televisions and online media severely impacting the ethics and deontology of the journalism profession in Cameroon. This is because many television and radio talk shows have been turned into verbal bullrings and prosecution places, arenas for defamation and invectives against public officials.
This proliferation of media organs in Cameroon is blamed on the procedures set up by government to create media organs which to journalists trade unions, is making the media landscape fragile “You wake up one morning and you see four different newspapers with same headlines. One month after, they no longer exist… This is because with a stamp from the D.O, a medium is created in any town” Hilaire Hamekoue member of CJTU.
UNESCO disclosed that 7 out of 10 female reporters have experienced online violence in the world. The UN body in its statement on press freedom, expressed fears as online platforms have called to question the economic viability of independent and pluralistic media, putting journalists and their sources at greater risk of being targeted, harassed and attacked. Good case studies are reporters Paul Chouta and Emmanuel Mbombog Mbog Matip, who were finally released in 2021 after being held on defamation charges for 24 and 16 months respectively.
Going by the 2021 report from Reporters Without Borders, Cameroon was ranked 135/180 on list of countries with no real press freedom. Though the ranking has improved in 2022, 118/180, Cameroon, is still considered one of the continent’s most dangerous countries for journalists especially with the socio-political upheavals in three regions.
Laws are often carved out in order to harass and persecute journalists, and special courts are sometimes used to prosecute them. This is the case with a former CRTV director-general, Amadou Vamoulke who has been detained since 2016.
