Senegalese Journalists’ Perception of Influences in News Production

• In Event: News Effects in Contexts

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the influences exerted on news content in Senegal and their perceptions by journalists. It hypothesizes that, in a developing country where economic resources are scarce, media owners, advertisers, and public relations practitioners would like to have their voices heard in the news and therefore alter the objectivity and credibility of the journalists. The study used a quantitative method in the form of survey distributed to active journalists in the country. The findings indicate that advertisers and public relations practitioners’ pressures are more severe in private media compared to public media. It also appears that public and private television networks in Senegal are tightly controlled by media owners and managers who want to use them as their “sounding boards”. However, in public and private media, journalists perceive the pressures but they declare to be able to resist.

Author

• Layire Diop, University of Oregon