By Doh James Sonkey
Prime Minister, Head of Government, Chief Dr Joseph Dion Ngute has lauded Cameroon’s pioneer media map. He was speaking recently while receiving at the Star Building in Yaounde, the President of the National Communication Council, NCC, Joseph Chebongkeng Kalabubse who came to present the document mapping the country’s media houses.
The Prime Minister, Head of Government declared in a post that “Cameroon now has a reliable document on its media landscape… the document will make it possible to better regulate the issuing of licenses and the management of frequencies and even to anticipate the social responsibility of a sector undergoing transformation.”
The President of the National Communication Council, NCC, Joseph Chebongkeng Kalabubse told the PM that the comprehensive document contains the address and contacts of media organs in the country.
The NCC boss handed the 188-page document dubbed Cameroon’s media map produced by the National Communication Council and is said to contain statistics up till November 2024.
According to the strategic document which will greatly facilitate media management in Cameroon, there are a total of 760 media organs in the ten regions of the country. In detail, there are 93 television stations, 129 commercial radios, 169 community radios, 232 newspapers, 72 online media outlets.
During the event, NCC President revealed that the statistics will be updated as need be, given that they are conscious of the fact that some media organs might fold up and new ones will see the light of day.
Joseph Chebongkeng explained that, “we came to present to the Prime Minister a product which the National Communication Council has been able to realise in the past two years. We have been working on a media map for Cameroon. We want to announce to Cameroonians that for the first time, we now know which media operates where in the country.”
He added that: “We can say without being misinterpreted that we have around 760 media organs in the country today from the research we have done and the finding we have had”.
NCC President further noted that with the National Communication Council being one of the structures attached to the Prime Minister’s Office, it was imperative of them to come and present the first copy to the Head of Government, their supervisory authority.
Speaking on the importance of the document, the Council’s President explained that it will help Cameroonians, authorities and institutions to know which media organ operates in what part of the country and how the country is served in terms of information and communication.
He said should someone complain about something being published in a media organ, the National Communication Council and authorities can quickly identify the concerned given that there now exists an exact address of those operating in Cameroon.