The concept of public service broadcasting in a changing Africa: A Tanzanian experience

For more than five decades the political, economic and sociocultural landscape of Africa has been changing. Africa witnessed a change from colonialism to independence, which was immediately followed by one-party states and militarization. With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the wind of change brought multiparty democracy and neo-liberalism into Africa. public service broadcasting (PSB) has been at the centre of these changes as a tool for legitimizing them. The central argument in this article is that the concept of PSB in 'a changing Africa' has been changing, reflecting the changes in political, economic and sociocultural sceneries in Africa. Thus, from a Tanzanian experience, this article is an overview of the concept of PSB in Africa from the colonial period to the present and concludes that lack of political will is an obstacle to the realization of the concept of PSB in Africa.