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MARKET-DRIVEN MEDIA

An analysis of market-driven media, especially in Africa has to beframed within an understanding of globalisation and economicliberalisation. Since the early 1980s economic liberalisation has

emerged as the predominant policy reform worldwide. In Africa thiswas manifested in the adoption of Structural Adjustment Programmes(SAPs) by many governments in the 1980s and early 1990s. Thesereforms were sponsored by the MFIs. The SAPs were among otherthings expected to promote a free-enterprise market system andallocative efficiency by disengaging the state form productive andcommercial activities through privatisation of publicly owned assets(Mengisteab, 1996: p.29). Most importantly, however, the reforms wereexpected to integrate economies of developing countries more closelyinto the global economy by encouraging foreign direct investment(FDIs).

In terms of media and communications, liberalisation and globalisationis supposed to ensure competition which fosters wide access to diverseviewpoints and allows individual consumers to decide what is theirinterest (Keane, 1991). Information is viewed as a commodity to bebought and sold. Proponents of market-driven media argue thatgovernments have no business in media and that the dismantling oflegal controls would provide the adequate conditions for a healthycompetitive business environment.

Deregulation and privatisation are the new buzzwords in the area of

communications. Alongside the media transformation, there has beenan adoption of economic policies in the region which promoteintegration into international networks of commodity production anddistribution (Barnett, 2000). In most cases, the media have beenopened up to penetration by foreign capital. This is most noticeable inthe area of telecommunications.

The question that has been posed by many academics (Keane, 1991,Murdock 1990; Collins and Murroni, 1996; Mosco, 1996 and freedom ofexpression activists is whether unregulated and privately owned mediadeliver diversity and pluralism of views. Deregulation has seen media

organisations being transformed into large-scale commercialorganisations. Therefore freedom of expression is facing another formof threat NOT from excessive state power, but from an unbridledmarket. In the United States of America and Western Europe, mediaownership is increasingly being concentrated into fewer and fewercompanies (Bagdikian, 1992). It is argued that because the sameinterests own the many different media, the views expressed are moreor less the same. This has reduced diversity and pluralism of views.

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Murdock (1990) has argued that competition does not promotediversity of views- more does not mean different. It just means thesame basic commodity appearing in different formats (Barker andMinnie, 2000). In Southern Africa, South Africa gives the best exampleof media monopoly and conglomeration. It is difficult for new titles to

penetrate the media market.

When it comes to broadcasting, African governments have beenreluctant to liberalise. Radio in Africa reaches the majority of people asit breaks geographical and linguistic barriers. Most Africangovernments want to control the flow of information and as a result arereticent about opening up the airwaves to other players. Howevereconomic, political and technological pressures have forced manygovernments to deregulate the broadcasting sector. What hashappened is that most government have commercialised and notnecessarily opened up the airwaves. Several forms of broadcast

liberalisation exist in the region and indeed Africa the main form isthat channels on public owned broadcasters are leased to privatecompanies. Paterson (2000) has argued that this permitsgovernments to reduce their financial burden by turning money losingchannels into money earners, while maintaining a significant degree ofinfluence over programme content (p.7). The best example of this isin Zimbabwe when in 1997 the cash-strapped Zimbabwe BroadcastingCorporation (ZBC) leased its money-losing channel 2 to three privatebroadcasters Joy TV; LDM TV and MABC.

It is also obvious that commercialisation of the public media has

reduced informative and educational programmes. In most cases, timedevoted to news and public affairs has been reduced. There has been aproliferation of programme content consisting sports, Americanmovies, European and American newscasts such as BBC; SKY Newsand CNN (Paterson, 2000). In many African countries, the advent ofliberalisation has seen the demise of public service broadcasting infavour of new private and commercial broadcasting stations.