SECTOR 4 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: 2.8 (2008=3.2; 2011=4.8) 4.5 Journalists and media houses have integrity and are not corrupt. The media in Cameroon are considered very corrupt. Reporters, editors and publishers all accept and often demand money and other favours from event organisers, news sources and interest groups. Journalists sometimes stay away from events or hold back stories if they think organisers will not give them money. Politicians find it easy to use money to influence media coverage and even determine editorial content. “Planted” stories are common in newspapers, while TV and radios stations are noted for running “debates on-demand”, with panellists carefully selected and coached to either support an interested party or discredit its rival. Increasingly, media professionals use blackmail to extort money from rogue public officials and business people. The practice of “killing” stories has become rampant. Officials of some media outlets receive monthly pay from public officials to either get positive press or avoid negative reporting. According to one panellist, Canal 2 - one of the leading private TV stations in the country - requires journalists to declare tips they receive during assignments, and are instructed to pay 60% to management. Journalists have many ways of talking about corruption in the industry. Gombo21 is the Cameroonian equivalent of “brown envelope” practices in many countries. When reporters say they are waiting for the final communiqué or an exclusive interview, often what they mean is that they are waiting for “taxi money”, a tip or a bribe. “Sometimes at the end of the event, journalists linger around asking the event organiser to speak well22,” said a panellist. Trust in media content has slipped as a result of widespread corruption in the industry. “People believe that journalists undertake public relations for politicians and that influences their ability to be objective,” said one panellist. Others have undermined their credibility by taking up part-time jobs as press managers for 21 Gombo is French for okra, a slimy vegetable widely consumed in Cameroon. The word is widely used in the media to mean tip or bribe from a news source or event organizer. 22 “Speak well” is widely used in the public service to mean “what do you have?” usually when asking for a bribe AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER CAMEROON 2014 127