CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSION 7. Conclusion A few conclusive points can be made from the thematic analytical treatise highlighted. All the AMBs consistently demonstrate that African countries provide for at least freedom of expression, although a number also specify freedom of the press in their national constitutions. Most have ratified international instruments which provide for and seek to enhance fundamental freedoms. However, the AMBs also show that this promising picture is tainted by the inclusion of significant pullback conditions in the same national constitutions, and the enactment and retention of restrictive laws on the statute books. Furthermore, the AMBs indicate that several African countries, such as Namibia, have been slow to enact laws promoting access to information, especially information held by state functionaries. The AMBs show that African media are generally plural but less diverse in content, and primarily patriarchal in their coverage of women. Although "The AMBs show that African media are generally plural but less diverse in content..." print media is expansive in most African countries, circulation figures are dropping, and the cost of newspapers and magazines limits accessibility. Most countries have a significant number of broadcasting services (in particular radio, which remains the cheapest and most accessible medium on the continent) across the three tiers of state/public media, commercial media and community media. However, it is also noted that both print and broadcast media face sustainability challenges due to falling advertising revenues and limited state support for the media, which threatens to constrict the communicative space and the range of issues and social groups covered. In addition, the AMBs show limited desire by most African governments to provide guarantees, in law, for editorial independence in the state/public media. 49 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER 11 YEARS IN REVIEW