The Promise,Challenge,and Foundations of Media Collective Action: Illustrations from Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

This paper examines collective action by “media sectors” in the defense and promotion of media freedoms. Much of the literature on media freedoms has focused on structural and contextual determinants of those freedoms, with little attention to the roles played by the individuals, firms, and organizations of the media sector. Yet the record from a number of sub-Saharan African countries indicates that collective action by the actors of the media sector can help them prevail in struggles over media freedoms and positively shape the climate in which they operate. The paper illuminates this and explores the conditions that contribute to media collective action. Drawing from fieldwork conducted in three African countries, I argue that collective action is more likely where the media sector faces issues that affect most of the actors in that sector, enjoys robust organizational resources to help coordinate and sustain collective action, and operates with some level of solidarity.