From the early 1960s, following the attainment of independence in most African countries, the mass media has been a contested space for various actors, in shaping both the media and national polity. This is because the media, according to Nyamnjoh (2005) played a significant role during the struggle for independence by aiding nationalists to promote their ideologies. Therefore, in independence and post-independence eras, the different actors continued their struggle for dominance over the media, and the direction the nation state should follow. For instance, Kwame Nkrumah had to take control over the mass media by nationalizing the media in order to sell his ideas of national development (Hasty 2005). This was almost a common scenario for most African countries. However, Ake (2000) argued that this process wasn’t simply due to the contestation of the different actors as the result of political and economic challenges that confronted these countries. According to Ake (2000, 1979), most of the African leaders had the desire to formulate and implement reforms that were tailored to their ideas and principles. However, because of the need to be perceived as “developed” or to emulate Western development, they had to adopt other reforms. Okonjo-Iwela (2012), while buttressing the above, held that the reform process is a complex one as there are numerous international and national actors struggling for control, a struggle that puts Western liberal ideologies up against the ideologies and philosophies of these leaders.
In this study, I seek to investigate the media reform processes in two Africa countries i.e. South Africa and Nigeria widely considered to have the most developed media landscape, and whose media are considered active, and central to the development and consolidation of democracy. The extent to which the various actors in the reform processes been able to influence, change media policy, and regulation and communications, in general, will be examined. In addition, the study will explore and examine the media as a site of contestation and how this contestation is played out. There have been various assumptions about such contestations without an in-depth critical examination of these situations. Hence, this study will explore the centrality of the mass media to national development and why it has always been an attractive site to either democratic or authoritarian regimes, and other actors in the development project.
The focus will be on the period of 2000 to 2015, as most studies on media reform and democratization are centered around 1989 and 2000 with little media reform discourse of 2000 to 2015. Hence, the need to investigate the contestations and reform processes between 2000 and 2015 in South Africa and Nigeria.
For instance, in South Africa, there has been an increased debate on media transformation from ‘white monopoly capital’ to a media system that reflects the needs of all South Africans. In addition, the revised film and publication amendment bill that attempts that regulate content production and regulation on new media platforms has generated huge controversy due to its impacts on both the citizens and media. These two media reform issues have raised and questioned the antecedence of the media landscape which is tied to the country’s history of settler-colonizer relationships.
Likewise, in Nigeria, the government’s attempt to regulate, and monitor new media usage amongst Nigerians and regulate hate speech has raised serious media reform concerns about the impact of these issues not only on the democratic consolidation process but on the media sphere. Therefore, the need the explore the various contestations between the different actors i.e. internal and external and their advocacy for issues such as freedom of expression, freedom of the media, online and digital media regulation, public service broadcasting, the protection of journalists and the liberalization of media airwaves.