Incisive Journalism in Cameroon

The Best of ��Cameroon Report�� (1978 � 1986)

Sam-Nuvala Fonkem

• Publisher: Langaa RPCIG
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN:
  9789956791170
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9789956791781
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Journalism
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

Working for Cameroon state-owned Radio in the 1970s and 80s meant toeing the official line and learning not to sing out of tune. While the rather scanty private press that existed at the time was subject to prior censorship, a different kind of censorship self-censorship prevailed at the Radio where topics for commentaries were vetted by the Minister of Information or his delegate. But for Anglophones working in a predominantly francophone environment, once topics were approved, the authorities could not be sure which direction commentaries were going to take as the journalists applied the tactics of bite and blow, sometimes giving full expression of their Anglo-Saxon spirit of debate and critical analysis as evidenced in this selection of commentaries from the Sunday morning commentary programme, Cameroon Report (now Cameroon Calling) of the late 1970s up till 1986. It is a showcase of the irrepressible seed of freedom of expression that Anglophone journalists were imbued with and demonstrated at a time when subjects related to coups dtat, human rights and governance were considered taboo. It was and shall remain the indelible input of the Anglophone character that has had a positive influence on Cameroons media landscape.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Copyright page
• The Editor
• Contributors
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• Editor’s Note
• The Prologue
• 1. Cameroon Report 1/9/78: The C.N.U: Twelve Years After
• 2. Cameroon Report 18/1/81: Wum Farmer - Grazier Problem
• 3. Cameroon Report 28/3/1982: A chaotic Highway Transporters Union
• 4. Cameroon Report 5/4/81: Inhuman prison conditions
• 5. Cameroon Report 5/4/1981: Lay Private Education
• 6. Cameroon Report 5/4/1981: Health for all by year 2000
• 7. Cameroon Report 22/11/81: Catering for disabled persons
• 8. Cameroon Report 17/1/1982: Cameroon Nigeria Reconciliation
• 9. Cameroon Report 02/2/1982: The Role of our Parliamentarians
• 10. Cameroon Report 06/6/1982: Wastage and Mismanagement in Public Health Services
• 11. Cameroon Report 01/10/1982: Crackdown on Customs Fraud
• 12. Cameroon Report 24/10/1982, FONADER: Not yet the Farmer’s Bank
• 13. Cameroon Report 24/10/1982: Mount Cameroon Erupts
• 14. Cameroon Report 7/11/1982: President Ahmadou Ahidjo’s Dramatic Resignation
• 15. Cameroon Report 7/11/1982: The Task Ahead for President Paul Biya
• 16. Cameroon Report 28/11/1982: Biya and the Housing Crisis
• 17. Cameroon Report 9/7/1983: Our Ailing Parastatal Corporations
• 18. Cameroon Report 6/8/1983: The University as Brain Trust
• 19. Cameroon Report 31/3/1984: Biya on Housing and Road Construction
• 20. Cameroon Report 15/4/1984: April 6 Coup Attempt: An Appraisal
• 21. Cameroon Report 15/4/1984: In the Dawn of the Abortive Coup
• 22. Cameroon Report 21/5/1984: Reflection on May 20
• 23. Cameroon Report 9/6/1984: Parastatal Corporations Revisited
• 24. Cameroon Report 01/1/1985, Chasing Files: A Product of Centralisation
• 25. Cameroon Report 20/01/85: The Plight of our Farmers
• 26. Cameroon Report 22/4/85: The One-shift and Two-shift Working systems
• 27. Cameroon Report 25/4/1985: Decentralisation versus Decongestion
• 28. Cameroon Report 15/5/1985: 13th Anniversary of the Unitary State
• 29. Cameroon Report 25/5/1985: The Role of Development Committees
• 30. Cameroon Report 01/6/1985: 1985 Budgetary Session
• 31. Cameroon Report 30/6/1985: MUNA on Bilingualism
• 32. Cameroon Report 14/7/1985: The Concept of Development Journalism
• 33. Cameroon Report 08/8/1985: The Question of Certificate Equivalence
• 34. Cameroon Report 18/8/1985: Harmonising Our Two Legal Systems
• 35. Cameroon Report 06/10/85: The First October Story
• 36. Cameroon Report 20/5/1986, May 20th: Our Dream of a New and Great Cameroon
• 37. Cameroon Report 01/6/1986: The CPDM and Civil Liberties
• 38. News talk 24/6/86: Enemies of Democracy
• African & World Affairs
• 39. Cameroon Report 22/7/1980: Towards a New World Information Order
• 40. Cameroon Report 12/04/1981: Africa’s Five Million Refugees
• 41. Cameroon Report 07/7/1981: Boycotting sporting links with Racist South African
• 42. Cameroon Report 23/08/1981: The Proposed Senegambian confederation
• 43. Cameroon Report 04/10/1981: The I.M.F. Tightens policy towards Third World
• 44. Cameroon Report 11/10/1981: The Assassination of SADAT: Consequences on Egyptian Politics
• 45. Cameroon Report 26/10/1981: The North-South Dialogue
• 46. Cameroon Report 13/12/1981, Ciskei Homeland: Another stride for Apartheid
• 47. Cameroon Report 17/01/1982: Palestinian Autonomy
• 48. Cameroon Report 21/03/82: Cameroon’s Position on SADR’S Admission into the O.A.U
• 49. Cameroon Report 07/07/1982: The 9th Franco-African Summit
• 50. Cameroon Report 08/08/1982: OAU Deadlock over Western Sahara
• 51. Cameroon Report 03/11/1982: Foiled OAU Summit Reconvened
• 52. Cameroon Report 13/01/1985: Checking the African Dependency Syndrome
• 53. Cameroon Report 02/02/85: The O.A.U. Drought Fund
• 54. Cameroon Report 03/03/85: The Western Sahara Ten Years After
• 55. Cameroon Report 21/04/85: South Africa: Botha’s Lame Reforms
• 56. Cameroon Report 16/06/85: African Leaders in Europe
• 57. Cameroon Report 23/6/1985: South Africa’s puppet Government in Namibia
• 58. Cameroon Report 14/7/1985: Africa’s Troubled Politics
• 59. Cameroon Report 18/8/1985: Pope John Paul II in Africa
• 60. Cameroon Report 03/11/1985: Leadership Succession in Africa
• 61. Cameroon Report 11/11/1985: Reagan-Gorbachev Summit
• 62. Cameroon Report 16/11/1985: Africa and its Elections
• Back cover