An Afrobarometer survey findings report released as part of activities marking this year’s World Press Freedom Day shows an increase in support for media freedom in Africa.
The report indicated that a majority of Africans endorse the media’s ‘right to publish any views and ideas without government control,’ rejecting the idea that a government should be able to prevent the media from publishing ‘things that it disapproves of.’
It revealed that support for media freedom was the majority view in 31 of 36 surveyed countries and had increased by 12 percentage points across 30 countries tracked since 2014/2015.
The report shows that majorities in 36 surveyed countries endorse the media’s watchdog role in investigating and reporting on government mistakes and corruption.
The data also shows that a majority of Africans assess their country’s media as ‘somewhat’ or ‘completely’ free.
But Gabon, Eswatini, the Ivory Coast, and Cameroon register large majorities who describe their country’s media as ‘not very free’ or ‘not at all free.’
Key findings of the survey revealed that on average across 36 African countries, two-thirds (65 per cent) of citizens ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ that the media should have the right to publish any views and ideas without government control.
This includes more than three-fourths of citizens in Mauritius (84 per cent), Seychelles (84 per cent), Gabon (79 per cent), and Botswana (77 per cent).
On average across 30 countries surveyed in both 2014/2015 and 2021/2022, support for media freedom has increased by 12 percentage points.
The report said support for free media had more than doubled during this period in Senegal (from 27 per cent to 73 per cent), while 17 other countries also record double-digit increases.
It said almost three quarters (73 per cent) of citizens ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ that the media while 25 per cent say, ‘too much reporting on negative events, like government mistakes and should constantly investigate and report on government mistakes and corruption, corruption, only harms the country’.
It said close to six in 10 (58 per cent) say the media in their country was ‘completely’ or ‘somewhat’ free.
It noted that perceived media freedom was highest in Tanzania (81 per cent), The Gambia (79 per cent), Tunisia (76 per cent), and Mauritania (75 per cent).
The 36 countries covered in the report include Mauritius, Sudan, Eswatini, Guinea, Morocco, Niger, the Ivory Coast, South Africa, Malawi, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Seychelles and Mauritania.
Others are Zambia, Liberia, Madagascar, Botswana, Tanzania, Kenya, São Tomé and Príncipe, Lesotho, Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso and Benin.
The rest are Cabo Verde, Nigeria, Gabon, The Gambia, Senegal, Angola, Sierra Leone, Tunisia, Namibia, Uganda and Mali.
Afrobarometer is a pan-African, non-partisan survey research network that provides reliable research findings.
Afrobarometers national partners conduct face-to-face data on African experiences and evaluations of democracy, governance, and quality of life.
Eight survey rounds in up to 39 countries have been completed since 1999. Round 9 surveys of 1,2002,400 adult citizens.
Samples of this size yield country level results with margins of error interviews in the language of the respondent’s choice with nationally representative samples of +/-2 to +/-3 percentage points at a 95 per cent confidence level.
Source: Ghana News Agency