CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.0. INTRODUCTION

The media’s coverage of Cameroon Anglophone crisis has stirred enormous controversy within and without political circles, with the predominant issue of language use being put to question. There have been charges of biased reporting made against Anglophone journalists, with questions asked by government and other political figures about the obligations of news organizations to the country, which has led to investigations into reporting practices. The prolonged and agonizing Anglophone crisis opened many wounds in the journalistic community and provoked serious political debate about the nature and quality of Cameroonian journalism.

The media are limited neither to words and representations nor to sets of values and principles; they are complexes of persons, things such as technological devices and architecture, texts, meanings, and power relations (Hansen 2006; Lievrouw 2014; Packer and Crofts 2012). In particular, there are journalists’ thoughts and practices—strategic actions, their unintended consequences, more or less conscious choices of words, use of practical devices—that lead to the construction of frames and other (desired) effects that, taken together, constitute media content and foreshadow its social and political biography. Thus, it is important to examine the influences of these various factors on the reporting of crises (Neumann and Fahmy 2016).

Language plays a vital role in every human encounter and interaction. It is the process through which individuals as well as institutions exchange information. In every aspect, it is language that facilitates the communication connecting people. Adejimola (2009) says language facilitates communication when it conveys meaning. It may be used for positive and negative purposes, to initiate action, set mood, or create an atmosphere. 

Conflict is inevitable in the human world. It arises from or is associated with language in communication. Language and conflict are broadly viewed as any type of verbal (written and spoken) or nonverbal opposition ranging from disagreements to disputes, mostly in social interactions. Mojaye (2014) asserts that language does not always precipitate conflicts, but its use or misuse does. To him, language is the golden egg-layer in the management of conflicts because conflicts usually occur when language used during communication is not good enough. 

The role the media plays in covering the crisis has overwhelming consequences on the eventual escalation or de-escalation of the crisis. The issues of balance, fairness, impartiality, accuracy and professionalism thus come into play to ascertain the proper role of the media in covering and reporting a crisis. To an even greater extent the part the media play in their coverage has a lot to play in defining opinions and perceptions of the audiences.

1.1. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

There has been an unprecedented wave of insurgent attacks across Africa in the past decade, from groups like Al Shabab and more recently Boko Haram that have resulted in countless deaths, displacements and untold human suffering. Cameroon, formerly, fondly considered as the island of peace in the Central African sub-region has since 2014 been the object of deadly attacks by the Northern Nigerian indigenous Islamist sect Boko Haram.

As a result of the conflict in Cameroon, around 240,000 people in the Far North region had fled their homes between 2014 and the end of 2017. Freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly continued to be restricted throughout the country. On the other hand, security forces violently repressed demonstrations in Anglophone regions since January 2017. Civil society activists, journalists, trade unionists and teachers were arrested and some faced trial before military courts. 

Cameroon before now has not experienced any war like the socio-political armed upheavals and confrontations in towns and villages in the two Anglophone regions since independence. The Cameroon mass media especially the audio-visual media is expected as duty, to appropriately report on the conflicts in a manner that would result in conflict containment and management rather than escalation. This study seeks to examine how language is used in reporting the prevailing Anglophone armed conflict in Cameroon.  Ikenga (2006) affirms that

Conflict has been a scourge of humanity from the earliest times. The contemporary world has witnessed many intra and interstate conflicts which have resulted in, among other things, the loss of lives and property, internal displacement of people, the flow of millions of refugees and general destabilization of human beings. 

Generally speaking, language and style performs lots of functions and tasks in any given community. In its social role or function, language and style of presentation has the characteristics of a double-edged sword especially in circumstances of crisis or conflict. Orjime (2002: 56) observes that  

The misapplication of language, is a sure way of bringing about disharmony and by extension, underdevelopment. When carefully and democratically used, language brings about cooperation; the misuse of it brings about confrontation. 

This tie with Orjime (2002) that we attempt in this dissertation to explore how style and language in news coverage could be employed to effectively play a positive role in the management and resolution of the escalating crisis situation in which Cameroon finds itself today. Mindful of the war exactions of the armed factions of the Anglophones popularly referred to as Ambazonian secessionist groups and the security forces of the government; the losses incurred by the government of Cameroon as a whole, there is need for the conflict to be resolved. The media has been reporting this ‘war’ and the resultant cases of killings, kidnappings, confrontations and other damages caused by the ‘war’. This work seeks to assess the audience perception of the audio-visual media reporting of the crisis. It seeks to verify the extent to which the television reporting may tend to escalate or de-escalate the conflict.

1.2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 

The efforts made so far to solve the Anglophone crisis have not de-escalated the crisis. The media according to van Dijk (1987) is a medium through which information can be transmitted to the masses; and newspapers, being one of the media outlets are, according to Cheyney (1992) read by all the populations in offices, roadsides, markets and everywhere.  The contention of this study is that the way television in Cameroon report the conflict may be causing it to escalate rather than de-escalate. It is anticipated that the style and language used by Cameroon media to report crisis, as well as the violent actions, reflects some perspectives and attitudes towards conflicts as a whole.

Journalists’ emotions lie precisely at the core of the paradox of the traditional journalistic commitment to objectivity (Andén-Papadopoulos and Pantti 2013; Richards and Rees 2011). In crisis reporting, more than in other journalistic fields, journalists’ position between an involved actor and detached observer, entailing the dichotomies of engaged/non-participating, active/passive, empathic/dispassionate, or close/distant, becomes more palpable and pressing (e.g. Tumber 2011). Moreover, journalists and media easily become central to the politics of conflicts (e.g. Altheide 2004; Hoskins and O’Loughlin 2010), which imparts specific kind of importance to crisis reporters’ practices, thoughts, and feelings.

This study centres on audience perception of the reporting of the socio-political upheavals in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon from 2016 to 2019 in the Cameroon audio-visual media. The study examines the journalistic professionalism, canons of news presentation and language features in television reports and identifies how these issues may be used in a way that can influence the course of the crisis from an audience perspective. 

1.3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

This study aims to assess the role of the media as an “agenda setter” in the coverage of the Anglophone crisis. To achieve this objective it focus on audience perception, peoples understanding of it and the socio-political context of its application. I will particularly focus on the role of two TV channels haven demonstrated prominence in broadcasting the Anglophone socio political crisis. Thus the objectives for this study can be formulated as follows:

• Main and Specific Objectives

The main aim of this study is to assess the nature of media coverage of the Anglophone crisis. Specifically, the study will investigate the extent to which the journalistic principles of news reporting were respected and whether or not the media played any significant role in the escalation or de-escalation of the crisis.

It will also be a focus of this study to ascertain how “Freedom of the Media” has been expressed in the coverage of the crisis in a bid to understand the context under which the Media in Cameroon operate.

1.4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• Main Research Question

To what extent has the audio visual media in Cameroon helped the escalation or de-escalation of the Anglophone crisis through its coverage? 

4.1.2. Specific Research Questions 

1. How has CRTV and Equinox covered the Anglophone crisis?
2. Which medium has been pro peace or finding lasting solutions to the crisis?