Consortium for Development Partnerships

Media and Voice in Democracy

Institutions: Centre for Democratic Governance (Burkina Faso), Université de Cocody (Côte d’Ivoire), Université d'Abomey-Calavi (Benin)
Project leader: Professor Augustin Loada (Centre for Democratic Governance)

The media in many of Africa’s transitional democracies face challenges that prevent them from functioning properly and serving society in ways that promote democracy and citizen participation in governance. Using action-oriented field research in Burkina Faso, Benin and Côte d’Ivoire, this project will assess the state of the media and its role in supporting democracy. It will focus on questions such as: Who controls the content of the media? What are media discourses on democracy, accountability and citizenship? Who has access to the media and how do audiences perceive the media’s role? What can be done to build professional capacity for media practitioners and sustain a pluralistic media?

The specific research objectives are to:
• determine the scope and application of the right to information, freedom of expression, regulatory mechanisms and the legal and institutional framework of the media in the African countries participating in this research project;
• examine the diversity and structure of the media in the various countries;
• identify the media’s level of involvement in promoting democracy and the citizens’ voice;
• describe the level of media access and the obstacles to media access (including language and education) for various categories of citizens;
• determine the ways in which the media support citizenship and citizens’ participation in the management of public affairs and national development;
• establish dialogue and cooperation between researchers, decision makers, media experts and media regulatory institutions in the sub-region;
• build the capacity of media industries and practitioners at all levels to make them more effective advocates and agents of democracy; and
• document and publish the findings that result from this process.

Phase I
The aim was to understand how the spectacular expansion of the communications sector has not only been an expression of the democratization process but has also consolidated this process by informing and giving voice to citizens. In each country, two or three media outlets were chosen, usually a combination of one or two newspapers and a TV or radio station. The studies give a good indication of the main challenges facing the media, which plays a key role in buttressing democratic institutions and protecting the rights of citizens. But the media is also fragile and vulnerable to political pressures and to the highly unstable economies of the region (synthesis report).

Phase II
The radio is the most important medium in the rural areas of the countries in this study. For this reason, the specific focus of the project team will be on community radio stations in these areas and how they influence and shape democratic expressions. The central questions are: What is the discourse on democracy in radio programmes? How do media practitioners carry out their work? And how does the radio influence citizenship?  

Workshop Media and Voice in Democracy, February 2011