SECTOR 4

on the same meeting organized by aspirant Yayi Boni in his pre-election campaign
by two papers contained contradictory information on the extent of mobilization.
Another issue related to the inaccuracy of information in the media is the
transmission of false news to such an extent that fear grips the population e.g.
a journal for consumers is said to have published an article in its irst edition in
which importers were to have brought in unwholesome meat in order to poison the
Beninese. he main importer had to therefore lodge a complaint against it.
A very serious trend is the commercialisation of information since politicians in
search of visibility are ready to pay for their place in the daily “media review”.
In order to get the titles of their papers to appear in the media review some are
willing to pay. During the AMB an anecdote was shared on someone who got the
media review to mention the title of his paper that had not even seen the light of
day yet.
According to one of the panelists, it is generally diicult to talk of fairness so what
is expected of the journalists is the honesty of the journalists. As regards the TV, one
is more concerned about the need to obey the basic principles but when it comes
to radio, especially those broadcasting in local languages; a lot of damage is done
though the perpetrators do not seem to be aware of what they are doing.
When it comes to the print media, one of the panelists is of the opinion that two
camps are in a head-on collision on the political-media scene. On one side we ind
those in power, and on the other side is the opposition and each of them has their
“media militia”, which is ready to ight.

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:

118

AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER BENIN 2011

2.1 (2007 = 2.4 ; 2009 =1.9)

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