How African governments use advertising as a weapon against media freedom

A similar move was made in South Africa last year when the government’s communications arm announced that it would scale down government advertising in local commercial media.

Instead, advertisements would be carried in the government newspaper Vuk’uzenzele.

The decision withdrew an estimated $30 million from the country’s commercial newspaper industry.

The South African government also claimed that the move was made to reduce government spending.

But critics have argued that the decision was made to punish a media outlet that’s been particularly critical of President Jacob Zuma’s presidency.

In both countries the decisions have hit at a particularly hard time for the media industry, providing governments with the perfect tool with which to control the press.

Commercial news media is going through a period of unprecedented crisis.

The old business models are unable to sustain media operations as audiences adopt new ways of consuming news.

More than that, mass audiences are growing ever smaller.

Newspapers particularly haven’t been able to adapt to the changing profile of the old versus the new newspaper reader.

The effect has been that newspapers are no longer as attractive to advertisers.

As such, they have to rely a lot more on state money and patronage for survival.

To sidestep state control commercial media in Africa must rethink their business models and diversify their revenue streams.

It won’t be an easy road but non-state media must also work hard to disrupt this re-emerging narrative of “order”.

Nation states cannot revert to the dark days when government policy was singular and alternative viewpoints were silenced or delegitimised.

By  George Ogola. This article was first published by The Conversation

Ed: This article does not mention Zimbabwe. But what is your opinion about this article vis-a-vis Zimbabwe?

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