African Media Barometer CAMEROON 2010 Executive Summary English and French headlines juggling for space on the front page of the same newspaper or magazine, bilingual radio and television newscasts, and the smooth switch from English to French by a presenter in a single programme may seem bizarre to visitors. But it has become the norm in Cameroon. Cameroon’s media plurality cannot go unnoticed. The country boasts some 500 registered newspapers and magazines, close to a hundred radio stations, slightly more than a dozen television stations and about ten multimedia platforms. Given its population of about 20 million people, this record is more than impressive. Unfortunately, however, these statistics do not match the overall level of the development of the country’s media in terms of access, diversity, professionalism, ownership and ethical standards. The paradoxical cohabitation of a multiplicity of media organisations alongside serious under achievement in the development of the media can be explained by a series of factors. These include problems with not following professional standards and media ethics; the serious conflict of interest both for journalists and media proprietors, many of whom use the media as a stepping stone to achieve ulterior motives; the lack of a sustainable business model for a majority of media undertakings and the absence of a well structured union or association whose membership is open to all media professionals and that is capable of defending the interests of the profession and its members. The monopolised distribution network for print media, for example, has suffocated the development of the industry. With a single private newspaper distribution company, distribution centres are carefully chosen, guided exclusively by the search for the highest possible concentration of readers. As such, large chunks of the country have simply been carved out as no-go areas. Moreover, distribution cost stands at an astronomically high 44 per cent of the cover price, leaving publishers in the print media with little or nothing to meet other equally high production costs such as printing, staff salaries and management expenses. Investment in the audiovisual sector is also curtailed by inhibitive licence fees, which run as high as 100 million francs CFA (approximately US $210.000) for anyone wishing to set up a commercial television station with nationwide broadcast coverage. In spite of these prohibitive factors, new frontiers are being explored in Cameroon’s media landscape in Cameroon. New media, in particular, has experienced remarkable growth, with platforms such as the mobile telephone giving citizens AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER CAMEROON 2011 63