Some African journalists are concerned that foreign funders may influence what they cover and how
Authors
Herman Wasserman
Professor of Media Studies and Director of the Centre for Film
and Media Studies, University of Cape Town
Audrey Gadzekpo Professor in the Department of Communication Studies, University of Ghana
Chris Paterson
Senior Lecturer in International Communication, University of Leeds
An enormous and increasing portion of the foreign development aid coming into Africa annually is for media development. Foreign aid funds diverse projects, ranging from investigative journalism in Nigeria, to stories on Chinese building projects in Kenya, or health reporting in South Africa.
The news media landscape and journalism practices – on the continent as well as globally – have undergone massive change in recent times. This, coupled with the collapse of familiar business models, and the limited potential for genuinely independent ‘watchdog’ journalism, the relationship between external influences on local cultures and practices of journalism needs to be reassessed.