Deadline for Health: The Media’s Response to Covering HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria in Africa
The Media Environment in Africa

The media is a vital source of information for many Africans – especially radio for rural audiences and TV and print in the urban areas – but the reach and quality varies according to country. Although there are differences in the degree of press freedom between, for example, Malawi (a legacy of strict state control) and Senegal (a burgeoning independent print and radio sector), African media in general tends to be reactive and oriented to covering events and personalities, particularly those in the government. There is no tradition of press freedom or practice of the kind of in-depth investigative journalism that is done in the United States.

The 1990s ushered in a new era of liberalization and democratization in many African countries. Multiparty democracy was reintroduced in Kenya and Malawi, and independent media initiatives brought new voices into the streets. In Cameroon, this gave birth to the privately owned newspaper Mutations and in Senegal, private and community radio broadcasting was legalized. Botswana enshrined freedom of expression in its constitution at the time of independence in 1966, but it was only in the mid-1980s that one of the country’s more outspoken independent newspapers, Mmegi, was launched. Governments in all five countries surveyed acknowledge the principle of media freedom and privately owned newspapers operate freely, occupying a significant space in the national media. Generally, the public/state media in Africa have more resources and easier access to information than privately owned media. They also tend to have the widest circulation within communities.

The broadcasting environment in the five countries comprises a mix of commercial/private, public/state and community radio. This is a comparatively new development emerging from a tradition of state monopoly of the airwaves. Only as democratic reforms have taken place in African societies has there been a liberalization of the airwaves and the advent of privately owned, commercial, urban-based stations. They exist along with community stations based largely in rural areas and serving community interests. Public broadcasters are largely dependent on government for funding and although they are constituted to serve the public interest, more often than not they function as state broadcasters with limited autonomy.

In terms of performance, respondents in most countries thought radio had done a better job of disseminating health information than newspapers and television. This is not surprising considering the power of radio in Africa. High illiteracy levels, poverty and the cost of buying a daily or weekly newspaper mean that radio is the most popular communications medium. In multilingual societies, radio is also more likely to broadcast in local languages, which is vital for effective communication of complicated and intimate issues such as healthcare and sexually transmitted infections. While there is enormous potential for rural radio because of its ability to broadcast in indigenous languages, rural audiences were not seen as viable markets by commercial broadcasters. In addition, most of the information on radio tends to be in the form of jingles and spot ads, which help increase awareness but lack the depth and analysis to enhance knowledge and address specific needs.

Unfortunately, for logistical reasons, radio content was not studied in this survey. Poor archives of news and feature programs made obtaining material for content analysis nearly impossible. However, some information pertaining to radio and TV was obtained from the focus groups and in-depth interviews.

Survey findings of the print media in the five countries varied, but with one or two exceptions, all clearly documented an alarming paucity of coverage of health matters. And according to the focus groups and interviews, the quality of coverage was poor as well. Senegalese respondents said the media tended to report on health topics only if there were scandals or disasters. In Kenya, there was criticism that stories had to be sensational in order to sell newspapers. Even when health issues were reported, Kenyans said, a lack of technical knowledge undermined the quality of the health reporting – a sentiment echoed by respondents in Botswana.

People interviewed in Malawi said there was a “huge vacuum of collaboration” between the media and health care workers as well as a lack of initiative on the part of the media. In Cameroon, almost 60 percent of members of the public who took part in the discussions said the media did not pay enough attention to health issues, particularly as they relate to women. They identified their main health concerns as the high cost of drugs, inadequate information about health problems and the poor state of the health system, which was understaffed and underdeveloped, especially in rural areas.

Interviews with journalists in Malawi, Kenya and Senegal elicited frustration and cynicism about coverage of public health issues. Most bemoaned the lack of interest within their own papers and among the public in topics such as primary health care and commented that “health news does not sell.” However, a Kenyan columnist insisted that the perception that the media was driven only by profit or sensation was incorrect and that his newspaper did cover public health. “The problem we face is that most people do not want to read grim news, but we carry it nevertheless,” he said.

Regular coverage of health issues is provided in only a few of the countries studied, however. All four daily newspapers in Kenya have regular weekly pages or pullouts on health and science. The Nation, for example, publishes a weekly section on health and science called Horizon, with a dedicated staff, including a science editor. Nation TV, which is part of the media house that also owns The Nation, has a weekly program, Health Focus, devoted to health issues and health education. In Senegal, the daily health and population page of Le Soleil is produced by a health desk run by a health editor and a team of four to five reporters. The Chronicle in Malawi has a public health column in every edition.

However, respondents in Kenya pointed out that in some cases the media had actually fueled the public’s ignorance and prejudice towards people living with HIV/AIDS. “Lack of specialization and clear understanding of the public health issues causes reporters to distort information, sometimes with catastrophic results,” says Lucy Oriang, managing editor for magazines at The Nation and lead researcher in Kenya. “The media have failed to hire professional science editors who can then report competently on the subject. There is also little investment in investigative journalism.”