Teaching Media Policy in Africa: A Handbook for Media Educators

"An ideal media environment needs to be capacitated through laws and norms in a society. For this environment to be created, there need to be institutions and structures in place that are important for media freedom."

This handbook is designed to enable media educators in Africa to train students to advocate for better media policy environments. Intended for students from journalism, media studies, development studies, sociology, political science, and similar disciplines, it seeks to give students an understanding of the policy and practical components necessary for there to be free, pluralistic, and independent African media ecosystems. The Handbook was published by the Namibia Media Trust and supported by the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

As explained in the handbook, "The media play a critical role in democratic societies and sustainable development by informing citizens, facilitating and building freedom of expression, and fostering access to information. They can also serve as factors that work against democracy and sustainable development, such as when they are captured or controlled in ways that work against professional journalistic standards. Which scenario prevails is very much a function of the media policy and regulatory environment - and the role of journalists, academia and civil society in shaping it." The handbook, therefore, seeks to help educators teach the principles and components of democratic media policy and practice and to enable students to identify strategies for effective engagement with these matters in African settings.

Drawing from a network of experts and recent case studies from across the continent, the handbook explores what freedom of expression is, why it is important for democracy, and details the components and actors of democratic media policy and practice. It also looks at: media pluralism and media content diversity; media regulation in a democratic media environment; the complexity of online media, online expression, and online information access in policy and practice; and effective civil society engagement with African media policy and practice.

The Handbook contains 7 modules. Each module starts with the aims of the module, followed by the learning outcomes, key terms, an introduction, and topic-specific headings. The modules also contain suggestions for activities with participants and additional readings/resources. Each module ends with reflection questions and assignment exercises.

Module 1: Freedom of expression and media freedom and their contributions to democracy and sustainable development - This module aims to:

• introduce participants to the importance of freedom of expression and media freedom as human rights;
• familiarise participants with key treaties relating to freedom of expression and media freedom;
• create an understanding of how international treaties relate to national law;
• note how civil society can influence international law; and
• explore key civil society declarations about freedom of expression and media freedom.

Module 2: The building blocks for ideal media environments - The objectives of this module are to:

• introduce participants to the conditions in which media freedom and practice can flourish and best meet the needs of people;
• introduce participants to the roles of media freedom, independence, the safety of journalists, and the role of pluralism and diversity;
• familiarise participants with the cross-cutting importance of gender in the media;
• assist participants to understand the role that professional journalistic practices play in support of media freedom; and
• explore the 3 tiers of media: public, private, and community.

Module 3: Media pluralism and content diversity - This module aims to:

• make participants aware of what media pluralism is and why it is desirable;
• make participants aware of content diversity and how it serves the public;
• familiarise participants with policies that promote pluralism and those that advance content diversity; and
• help participants understand how online media can undermine pluralism and diversity.

Module 4: Media regulation and democracy - The objectives of this module are to:

• introduce participants to ideal policy and regulation to support media freedom and professionalism as essential components of democracy;
• explain the roles of policy, law, and regulation, and how these can impact the news media;
• make clear to participants why broadcast media and print/online media attract different policy and regulatory approaches;
• alert participants to the different opportunities and challenges related to online media content;
• introduce participants to the various kinds of media regulation and the role of each; and
• highlight the complexity of online regulation.

Module 5: Access to information and democracy - This module aims to:

• introduce participants to the importance of the right to information;
• familiarise participants with the principles of good access to information legislation;
• acquaint participants with legitimate limitations to the right to information; and
• introduce participants to information requests and appeals.

Module 6: Civil society and policy making - The objectives of this module are to:

• introduce participants to civil society and its key actors;
• familiarise participants about the power of civil society to influence policy processes and promote the freedom to impart information and ideas, as well as the freedom to access information; and
• enable participants to understand civil society's role in democracy.

Module 7: Understanding civil society campaigns - This module aims to:

• assist participants in planning activities for advocating for good media policy;
• explain the setting of goals and objectives in civil society campaigns; and
• explore how policy may be changed in the participants' context.