Improving Private Press Support : Gov’t Envisages Broad-based Measures

Members of government, during this month’s cabinet meeting examined possible measures to improve support to the private media in the face of several challenges. Chaired by the Prime Minister, Head of Government, Joseph Dion Ngute on May 28, 2025, deliberations centred on constraints and strides within the framework of the State institutional support to private media.  
A presentation by the Minister of Communication, René Emmanuel Sadi, acknowledges the fact that the private press in Cameroon is facing significant funding problems. Indeed, the government instituted the financial support mechanisms to the private press as a means of supporting democracy and the rule of law. In recent times, the practice has experienced some setbacks as the aid package has declined from FCFA 250 million in 2016 to FCFA 127 million in 2024. It was therefore fundamental to examine some measures to address the situation especially as the journalism community highlighted some of the constraints during the commemoration of this year’s World Press Freedom Day on May 3, 2025. 
“We have therefore considered a number of measures to try to meet this expectation. There is institutional support for the private press that has been established by the State. However, we still find that this funding remains below what is needed. We will therefore need to consider ways and means to complement this State aid. As part of the measures, we have considered the re-establishment of a special fund that we will think about how to finance. Furthermore, we are also looking to rely on the digital dividend with the arrival of digital terrestrial television. Finally, we also believe that we will promote subscriptions by public services to be granted to private media outlets,” explained the Minister of Communication. He added that they are aware the distribution of private newspapers remains a problem. “The audiovisual press is not left out. We continue discussions on establishing a fund for the development of audiovisual media,” Ren&eacut...