African Media Ownership in the Digital Age

Abstract

Authoritative and accurate accounts of media and communication ownership are rare. Media business are sometimes unwilling to publicly share real details of their shareholding for many reasons, including fear of misuse of the information or liability including hyped tax bills, weaponised against them by unpopular governments. Media owners’ influence on journalism coverage is not just in Africa as was shown by the case of News of the World, a British weekly national tabloid newspaper that published every Sunday from 1843 to 2011. Influence and control of media are often exerted by both public and commercial actors, with contentious dimensions between those who want to control the media and those who control them. Big technology giants such as Facebook and Google are influencing the direction and scope of media ownerships across the world.