"A review of ten years of media pluralism in Africa" was the title of the third workshop at the Pan-African management roundtable for newspaper executives held in Dakar, Senegal, in March (for articles on the two other workshops, see the RAP 21 Newsletters no 14/2003 & 15/2003). Marie-Soleil Frre, who is responsible for media projects at the Intergovernmental Agency of the Francophonie, conducted the discussion about factors that have influenced the African press in either a positive or negative way during the last ten years. The workshop identified six determining factors. This week’s newsletter deals with three of them: the legal framework, the fiscal system and the internal structure.

1. The legal framework has developed in most African countries over the last ten years. In most cases the development has been positive, with a confirmation of media pluralism as well as a recognition of the private press. In, for example, Mali and Ghana, the press today enjoys great freedom. In other countries, like Mauritania, Togo and Guinea, the restrictions on media companies are still severe.

2. The fiscal system has changed considerably in many African countries over the last ten years. After having been exposed to very few controls in the beginning of the 90s, newspapers soon started to be considered a company like any other. However, sometimes the fiscal control has been seen by the newspaper as a mean of restriction and a way to suppress freedom of expression. Over the years newspapers in some countries, like Benin and Burkina Faso, have become aware of the necessity of paying taxes, thus strengthening themselves in the eyes of the authorities and asserting their autonomy. However, in several countries present in the workshop newspapers are still exempted from taxes. The newspapers present at the workshop also pointed out that even though they have made sure to respect their responsibilities, the government is usually much less likely to to respect theirs.

3. The internal structure of the newspapers has evolved, creating great changes. The most important changes has happened within the following fields: The legal statutes. Most newspaper companies have moved from being informal structures to formal ones. Many newspaper companies are today public limited companies. However, there are still many newspaper companies which do not have a legal status, weakening their position on the market. The management structure. Most newspaper companies have moved from an improvised management to a more organised one. However, there still exist many difficulties within management, such as the problem of controlling whether a journalist is being paid for by an external party for the article he writes. The specialisation of different sectors of the newspaper company. In the beginning of the 90s the people working at a newspaper would do anything from writing articles to selling advertisements. This has changed, and in many newspapers today there are commercial people dealing with marketing and advertisement. The diversification of lucrative activities of the newspaper company. Many newspapers have diversified their activities in order to make their newspaper survive. One typical example is newspapers which have their own printing facilities. They will usually also do other printing jobs, for external customers.

In next week’s newsletter the three remaining factors that have influenced the African press over the last ten years will be presented.