The 1990 summit of French-speaking states at La Baule, in France, called on the countries of francophone Africa to introduce more democracy. This was what happened to Nigeria, Africa's biggest country, then under military rule. The death knell had sounded for the notion of the media controlled by a one-party state to promote national development. In Cameroon, public pressure forced the government to enact press freedom measures in 1991 as a prelude to free elections and the abolition of censorship the following year. In countries that are sometimes having their first taste of freedom, excesses and errors seem almost inevitable, including press violations of privacy, libel and calumny, outrageous behaviour and unwarranted intrusion.
Some new journalists lack experience and training.
The issue of responsibility, which no free media outlet can dodge, soon arises. C te d'Ivoire, which had been marked since independence in 1960 by censorship and self-censorship, is a good example. The explosion of freedom spawned about 80 political parties and a hundred or so newspapers and other publications. Two years later, only a dozen of the 40 daily papers were still appearing and the government-controlled press had the upper hand. But the media had become a forum for debate.