AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER : A home-grown analysis of the media landscape in Africa / NAMIBIA 2022

The African Media Barometer (AMB) is an in-depth and comprehensive description and measurement system for national media environments on the African continent. Unlike other press surveys or media indices the AMB is a self-assessment exercise based on home-grown criteria derived from African Protocols and Declarations such as the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa (2002) by the African Commission for Human and Peoples’ Rights. The instrument was jointly developed by fesmedia Africa, the media project of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) in Africa, and the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) in 2004. The AMB is an analytical exercise to measure the media situation in a given country which at the same time serves as a practical lobbying tool for media reform. Its results are presented to the public of the respective country to push for an improvement of the media situation using the AU-Declaration and other African standards as benchmarks. The recommendations of the AMB reports are then integrated into the work of the 20 country offices of the FES in sub-Saharan Africa and into the advocacy efforts of other local media organisations such as MISA. SUMMARY 5 SECTOR 1 8 Legal/regulatory framework for freedom of expression and access to information and actual practice of these rights SECTOR 2 31 Diversity, independence and sustainability of the media landscape SECTOR 3 45 Legislation and regulation of broadcasting and internet SECTOR 4 59 Quality of media, working conditions and safety of journalists THE WAY FORWARD 79