SECTOR 2

effort appears to be a drop in the ocean, given the multitude of local languages
spoken across the country. Local languages are inexistent in the print media, in
part because the written form of most of these languages has not been fully
developed. As a consequence, most Cameroonians, even the most fluent in local
languages, cannot write or read these languages.
Different religious groups have time dedicated to programmes of their faith on
the audio visual media in Cameroon. Traditionally, public, private and community
radio stations try to run Islamic programmes on Friday afternoons and those of the
various Christian denominations on Sunday mornings. The number of Christian
radio and TV stations has increased in the past few years. Islamic stations are also
seeing the light of day, especially in the northern part of the country and in the
big cities. CRTV runs a weekly programme on faith issues that draw opinions and
insights from Christian, Muslim and even Traditional African Religion leaders. The
Catholic Church publishes a newspaper that covers news of general interest and
highlights the views of the Church on social issues and national life.
Thanks to years of civil society advocacy, the voice of minorities, especially the
Pygmies and Mbororos, has gained more prominence. Some newspapers have
regional supplements that help increase the coverage of communities that
are often left out of the national news spotlight. But it is difficult to say that
minorities are getting their fair share of space in news reports, whether in the
print or the audio-visual media. A panellist conceded that “although minorities
are marginalised, it is not a deliberate act.” People from minority groups are
generally media-shy and do not take advantage of the opportunities that do exist
for them to be heard.
Cameroon has two official languages, but one tends to be dominant in the
media. French is better represented than English, in part because of the number
of people who speak the language. The state-run Cameroon Tribune is officially
bilingual, but less that 20 percent of its content is in English. According to one
panellist, “even a fool can see that French is the priority language for ‘important’
stories” in the newspaper.

AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER CAMEROON 2014

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