"In Africa the press has frequently been used as a tool of propaganda, serving the interests of the government and ruling party. Government regulations, where they exixted, were designed to exclude independent voices. However a free and responsible press is in the interests of all people in Africa. Increasingly the media have taken the initiative to practise voluntary self-regulation, and a number of associations have already been created. Their aim is to create codes of conduct and professional rules. Based on a sound ethics of information, the hope is that a thoroughly professional media will come into being. In this book, with the support of the European Union and in collaboration with the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Observatory of Ivory Coast (OLPED), GRET has approached the issue with two aims: to explain the elements of self-regulation of the media, and to publicise the experiences of Africa." (Cover)