SECTOR 4 The media practise high levels of professional standards. 4.1 The standard of reporting follows the basic principles of accuracy and fairness. In 2012, the media was at the centre of a story alleging that a top military official had transformed into a python at a hotel in Buea, the capital of the South West region. Newspapers and local radio stations became the main propagators of a rumour that had not been verified. About 10,000 residents, mostly university students, attacked the hotel, accusing its management of protecting the soldier. Many were arrested and some wounded in clashes that followed with security forces. Last year, a newspaper ran a story about a woman in a polygamous home, who was HIV positive. But it used the photo of a woman who was neither married nor lived near the scene of the story, to illustrate the report. It turned out that the photo had been taken from a Facebook page and no effort was made to authenticate it before publishing. Examples like these are common and portray a media that routinely violates basic principles of accuracy and fairness. “Most articles in newspapers are misleading and inaccurate,” said a panellist. “Journalists do not seem to have a grip of the basic principles of the profession.” Most newspapers are sensational, with “shouting headlines” that are not backed by facts. On radio, the proliferation of talk shows has blurred the line between fact and opinion. Hosts and guests alike routinely state their views as if they were the “gospel truth”. Journalists have also been accused of blackmailing news sources to extort money from them. It has become common for publishers to take pre-press copies of their newspapers to a news source to negotiate for a negative report to be dropped for a fee. “Some journalists think the profession gives them leeway to ‘nail people’.” On the flip side, “If someone is black and has money, he can be painted white by a journalist” a panellist asserted. Many factors account for the low standards in the media profession in Cameroon. Over the years, the profession has attracted hundreds of young people seeking to make quick money. “Hilton journalists” - men and women who pass for journalists and flood public events to extort cash and feast at receptions - have become a reality in the industry. Low pay and difficult working conditions mean that even trained journalists often lack the means to verify and crosscheck information before going public. Public demand for bad journalism also seems high, because people are drawn in by gossip and conflicts. Social media also appears to have a strong influence on media coverage, as many journalists consider even the wildest rumour on the internet to be fact. 122 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER CAMEROON 2014