Cameroon Coming back to politics, news gathering on the field is usually seen to be balanced and fair enough but the news reports and programmes broadcast are surprisingly one-sided and generally ignoring the views of opposition leaders. The panellists did not agree as to whether opposition leaders were heard on CRTV or not. Some thought they were not, while others said the problem was actually that their views were not broadcast at the same time as those of the government. A panellist was really convinced that artificial technical problems were being created at CRTV to render the views of opposition politicians inaudible. SCORES: Individual scores: 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 Average score: 1.8 3.12 The public broadcaster offers as much diverse and creative local content as economically achievable. ANALYSIS: Local content accounts for less than 50% of CRTV’s daily broadcast. Such a situation has been blamed on technical problems. At one moment, the shortage of TV cameras was really acute. CRTV has a battery of highly qualified producers, but during the sixteen years of Professor Gervais Mendo Ze’s reign (1988-2005) as General Manager, the creative spirit among the producers was simply killed and buried so to speak. A few of those who were considered loyal to the establishment had their production projects funded. Producers and journalists went for months without a single production. Yet, they were well paid. Again, there was a one-man show, especially at the television. Prof. Mendo Ze was at the centre of all productions and every original idea was his and he insisted on being projected as the general supervisor of all productions. In some cases, staff made him part of every production crew, even those he only discovered on the air. The intention was to gain favours from him. With current General Manager, Mr. Amadou Vamoulke, things are changing and there African Media Barometer - Cameroon 2008 29