Cameroon SCORES: Individual scores: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 3, 1, 2, 1, 1 Average score: 1.3 1.7 Civil society in general and media lobby groups actively advance the cause of media freedom. ANALYSIS: The civil society’s involvement in the advancement of the cause of media freedom is mainly seen as a fight against human rights abuses. As such, the move to advance the cause of media freedom becomes less evident. The civil society groups that demanded the release of Pius Njawe in 1997 did so because he had become a star. It was more for the person than for the cause of media freedom. Many people in Cameroon believe, and rightly so, that the media are powerful enough to bring about change, but they do not see their responsibility in helping the media bring about that change. The civil society tends to avoid the media because of the huge financial demands made by journalists. To cover a civil society activity, journalists insist on being given a tip. It has become such standard practice in the country that its code name; “gombo” is well known to both media practitioners and event organisers. Even when a civil society organisation solicits the expertise of a journalist in the drawing up of a media plan for an event, the journalist gives priority to money not the work to be done. Such treatment usually stems from the fact that journalists do not consider the not-for-profit civil society organisations as actually non-profit making. Cameroon counts quite a good number of associations or unions for the promotion of journalism and the protection of journalists – the Cameroon Union of Journalists (UJC), Cameroon Association of English Speaking Journalists (CAMASEJ), the National Professional Media Women’s Association (NAPMEW) and the Cameroon Association of Commonwealth Journalists (CACOJ). There are even associations for various sectors like the economy, health, sports etc. Unfortu10 African Media Barometer - Cameroon 2008