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Central European Journal of Communication

Central European Journal of Communication

Scientific Journal of the Polish Communication Association

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You are here: Home > Browse Journal > Volume 17 No 2 (36) Special Issue 2024 > Media Capture and Perspectives for Media Development in a Fragile Media System: Debating Journalistic Roles in Guinea­‑Bissau

Media Capture and Perspectives for Media Development in a Fragile Media System: Debating Journalistic Roles in Guinea­‑Bissau

Johanna Mack
Erich Brost Institute for International Journalism, Germany

ABSTRACT: Guinea‑Bissau’s media have negotiated their roles and freedoms within the postcolonial national construct since its official independence from Portugal in 1974. While the current media landscape is relatively pluralistic, journalists experience constraints from various sides: political pressures, unaccommodating regulations, lack of resources. The concept of media capture (Mungiu‑Pippidi & Ghinea, 2012; Mabweazara et al., 2020; Schiffrin, 2021) allows the analysis of complex, subtle and structural constraints limiting media’s ability to fulfil their roles. This paper traces the phenomenon on the macro level (context), meso level (organizations) and micro level (journalists) in Guinea‑Bissau to interrogate how the concept plays out in a context shaped by fragility. The article draws on a literature review, official documents and semi‑structured interviews. Following Dugmore’s (2022) idea of precarity as an endogenous condition in many Sub‑Saharan contexts, this paper argues that capture is engrained in a fragile system rather than being an exception or disruption. This has implications for international media development action, which can be hindered by or become a part of the capture.

Full text: https://journals.ptks.pl/cejc/article/view/577/pdf

DOI: 10.51480/1899-5101.17.2(36).577

KEYWORDS: media capture, media development, fragile states, Guinea-Bissau, media freedom

AUTHOR:

  • Johanna Mack
    ORCID: 0000-0002-5039-631X
    Erich Brost Institute for International Journalism, Germany