Public journalism in Africa: trends, opportunities and rationale

Abstract

This article is an assessment of the trends, opportunities and rationale of public journalism practices in Africa. It is based on an extensive review of pioneering and current literature on public journalism practices on the continent and in other parts of the world. The cases from outside Africa the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia/Pacific are presented with the objective of juxtaposing some good practices that could be emulated by African journalists as ways of reaching out to, and engaging with, the masses of poor Africans in the rural areas. Three key questions motivate this article: What is the trend of public journalism in Africa? What opportunities and rationale exist for public journalism on the continent? And how can the mass media promote democratic development in Africa? The article argues that although public journalism is often linked to the United States, community radio stations in Africa undertook public journalism long before the current public journalism ideology emerged in the United States in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It concludes that there are great opportunities and needs for public journalism in Africa if the mass media are to help the poor Africans attain and sustain self-development, including meeting the Millennium Development Goals.