The media play a critical role in democratic societies by informing citizens, facilitating and building freedom of expression, and fostering access to information. This course will help you to identify the principles and components of democratic media policy and practice, and to identify strategies for effective civil society engagement with these matters in African settings.
Drawing from a network of experts and recent case studies from across the continent, this course will explore what freedom of expression is and why it is important for democracy. It will detail the components and actors of democratic media policy and practice.
Together, we'll take a look at media pluralism and diversity; media regulation in a democratic media environment; the influences of online media, online expression, and online information access on policy and practice; and effective civil society engagement with African media policy and practice.