How effective were South Africa’s policy measures to open up the media?

PICTURE: Researchers found a strong drive to improve access and participation in the media in post-democratic South Africa, but there were also impacts of socio-economic marginalisation on projects serving poor communities (Torque Media)

DW Akademie

Centre for International Media Assistance

Persistent inequality, political challenges, a difficult instutional transition: How effective have South Africa’s post-apartheid media policies been?

In a new report, ‘Levelling the media playing field: lessons from South Africa‘, researchers Franz Krüger, Sarah Chiumbu and Jayshree Pather share insights and recommendations as they consider the effectiveness of a range of policy measures instituted around the start of South Africa’s democracy to encourage the development of media outlets servicing communities on the margins of the information ecosystem, among other measures,

The country’s democracy was founded some 30 years ago and was associated with a strong drive to improve access and participation in the media, particularly by groups that had been excluded under apartheid.

A policy framework was created for community broadcasting, and though much less formal attention was paid to print, circumstances proved favourable to significant growth in independent publishing.

The report first considers the policy interventions and adjustments that were put in place and then describes the current local media landscape, finding significant growth but also continuing deep inequality in information access, chronic instability and a commercial model that is unable fully to redress inequalities

An assessment of the policy measures follows, finding that policy and implementation have been undermined by political shifts and institutional weaknesses.

An idealised view of community has led to a lack of measures to manage conflict and prevent capture, while resourcing strategies have paid too little attention to the weakness of local economies while there has been too little focus on the role of government communication spending.

A series of recommendations conclude the report, under the umbrella suggestion of a policy on information rights. This would include:

• looking at existing policies, practices and institutions to the extent to which they serve the needs of those still on the margins of the information ecosystem
• investigating opportunities in the market and the state for better support for independent local media
• targeted use of government communication spending, with a new framework to ensure it is fairly and transparently used, and
• a Basic Income Grant for media on the furthest edges of the information ecosystem

Overall, the impact of socio-economic marginalisation on media projects serving poor communities emerges as an important factor in Global South media landscapes.

The South African case, where a concerted intervention into the media landscape was confronted with particularly extreme inequality, surfaces important issues that many other countries also confront.