SECTOR 4 politicians and business owners. “It is difficult to talk about integrity in the Cameroon media,” said a panellist. Many reasons can be cited for the seeming willingness of Cameroonian journalists to easily compromise their integrity. Low pay and poor working conditions leave journalists vulnerable to financial and political influence. Media owners often admit they are obliged to devise other strategies to stay in business because of high production costs, falling sales, and insufficient advertisement revenue. Beyond these economic reasons, people within and outside the industry say many came into journalism with no clue about how the profession works and how to conduct themselves. Some analysts have rejected the thesis of poverty breeding bad journalistic practice because “even well paid journalists of the public sector are involved.” “Taxi money” for reporters is often a major head in the budget of event organisers. Public, private, non-profit and even some diplomatic services help spread the culture of gombo in Cameroon. Ministers, including the minister of communication and the minister of justice, give “taxi money” to journalists each time they grant a press conference or chair a meeting. Policies in some newsrooms also expose journalists to bribes. CRTV often requires event organisers to provide transportation for its journalists and “take care” of them when they are on assignment outside their station. Media organisations that try to uphold integrity are the exception rather than the rule. Over the past few years, the CRTV has started sanctioning reporters for accepting money from news sources, even though the practice is still rampant within the corporation. A new organisational structure under review for the state broadcaster foresees an anti-graft department. Several leading news organisations admit they may receive some form of “appreciation” for good work, but claim it does not influence editorial decision-making. Le Messager, one of the country’s leading dailies, “often sends workers on punitive transfer because of bribe taking”, a panellist asserted. 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: 128 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER CAMEROON 2014 2.1 (2008=n/a; 2011=1.0)