%0 Journal Article
%T Beyond Public and Private Ownership: Analysis of Media Ownership Patterns in Cameroon and Implications on Journalists¡¯ Professional Aptitude
%A Dominic E. Forcha
%A Kingsley L. Ngange
%J Advances in Journalism and Communication
%P 307-335
%@ 2328-4935
%D 2022
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/ajc.2022.103019
%X <span style=\"font-size:14px;\">Media concentration in the
hands of a few individuals/tycoons has been</span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\" \"=\"\"> noted to have a
negative effect on journalism. Thus, who owns and runs the media matters. This
piece of research went beyond already established patterns like public and
private to examine salient media ownership patterns within these two grand
patterns and to establish the relationship with professionalism in Cameroon.
The study made use of a mixed
methods approach utilising both qualitative and quantitative analysis. Guided
by </span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\" \"=\"\">Altschull¡¯s</span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\" \"=\"\"> media ownership theory and
the social responsibility theory of Siebert et al</span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\" \"=\"\">.</span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\" \"=\"\">,
the study found out that beyond private and public media ownership</span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\" \"=\"\">,</span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\" \"=\"\"> other salient media ownership patterns exist</span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\" \"=\"\">,</span><span style=\"font-size:10pt;font-family:;\" \"=\"\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\"> such as horizontal ownership (Newspa</span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">per 29.3%, Radio 27.9%, TV 11.1%), conglomerate
ownership (8.9%) cross ownership (8.1%), sole proprietor ownership(4.3%),
vertical ownership</span></span><span style=\"font-size:10pt;font-family:;\" \"=\"\"> </span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\" \"=\"\">(3.3%), religious ownership (2.4%), community
ownership</span><span style=\"font-size:10pt;font-family:;\" \"=\"\"> </span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\" \"=\"\">(1.4%) regional line
ownership</span><span style=\"font-size:10pt;font-family:;\" \"=\"\"> </span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\" \"=\"\">(1.1%), political line
ownership</span><span style=\"font-size:10pt;font-family:;\" \"=\"\"> </span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\" \"=\"\">(0.5%) and co-ownership</span><span style=\"font-size:10pt;font-family:;\" \"=\"\"> </span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\" \"=\"\">(0.3%). With th</span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\" \"=\"\">is</span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\" \"=\"\"> diversified ownership pattern, Cameroon portrays a unique ownership trend
similar to those of many African countries but very different from ownership
trends in </span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\" \"=\"\">the </span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\" \"=\"\">USA, Europe and other parts of the world where media
concentration lies in the hands of one family or a few
%K Media
%K Media Ownership
%K Ownership Patterns
%K Professionalism
%K Journalist
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=119432