SECTOR 2 Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 3.4 (2008=n/a; 2011=2.6) 2.12 Government does not use its power over the placement of advertisements as a means to interfere with editorial content. The government is the biggest advertiser in Cameroon and often uses this status to try to control editorial content. The Ministry of Finance, which easily has the highest advertising budget, habitually withdraws adverts from hostile newspapers until they become friendly. In cases where advertisers from the public sector do not seek to directly influence content, some news owners feel obliged to placate them in order to maintain a good relationship. A publisher in one of the country’s most influential newspapers often reminded his staff that there was a “political dimension” to the news business, meaning advertisers could not be hurt. One panellist said it was habitual for publishers to ask the editorial staff to notify them when reporting on certain ministers. Publishers and editors have on occasion admitted that they carry out some public relations function for ministers and whitewash rogue politicians in order to keep adverts coming in. The government generally has a grip on newspapers – directly and indirectly – because little advertising exists elsewhere. Ministers and managers of state corporations also use advertising to recruit media outlets to fight their political battles. Newspapers openly take sides in the rivalry between politicians and public officials. A panellist pointed out that in general, the allocation of advertisements to media outlets follows the principle of “you scratch my back, I scratch your own”, a reference to a local Pidgin English adage which alludes to a business of give and take. Last year, government instructed state-run companies to limit the volume of adverts they placed in certain news organs because of their “lack of ethics”. However, there are a few occasions when advertisements accidently slip into some “hostile” newspapers. AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER CAMEROON 2014 107