"The practicability and effectiveness of state support schemes would have to be assessed on the basis of the economic and sociopolitical context in which the different types of support and subsidies are implemented. The expansive press subsidy schemes of Northern Europe cannot be directly compared t ... o the West African support schemes or the recent Latin American efforts to deconcentrate the media landscape and support to community media. There is no automatic relationship between the economic crisis and the scaling down of state support to media. The development and implementation of support schemes depend on political will." (Conclusion, page 31) more

"In summary, the findings show that more than half of the analysed newspapers do in fact seek to expose potential wrong doings of government and business and as such are important actors in promoting local accountability. Yet, the findings also show that a lot of the reporting is not as extensive, a ... ccurate and thorough as it could be. Some of the reasons for this are given below alongside recommendations as to how independent publishers could in future be supported to fulfil their mandate better." (Introduction) more