Features of the media landscape in African countries

The subject of the research is the structural-functional and institutional characteristics of the media landscape in African countries in their interrelation with political regimes, socio-economic conditions, and global information processes. The study conducts a detailed analysis of the mechanisms of state regulation and control over mass media, including legislative, economic, and administrative pressure tools, as well as models of ownership and funding of media. Particular attention is paid to the specifics of the functioning of different types of media: radio as the dominant and most accessible means of communication for the rural population, elite printed press, limited-scope television, and unevenly developed digital platforms. The subject includes the analysis of the hybrid nature of African media systems, where traditional and new media coexist and interact, forming a multilayered ecosystem. The main research methods used are comparative political analysis to highlight media system models and an institutional approach to study the mechanisms of regulation, ownership, and economic dependence of media. A significant role is played by qualitative content analysis and the case study method, which allow for a detailed examination of the specifics of the media landscape in individual countries. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the comprehensive interdisciplinary analysis of the African media landscape, viewed not as a peripheral phenomenon but as a self-contained and unique ecosystem that requires a revision of classic Western media theories. The novelty of the work is determined by the identification and conceptualization of the phenomenon of "hybridity" of African media systems, within which traditional and new formats complement rather than replace each other, forming a multilayered structure of information consumption. For the first time, the research introduces a systematization of media regulation models on the continent, including a typology ranging from strict state control to competitive pluralism, as well as revealing the role of the international dimension, demonstrating how Russian and Chinese media discourses construct an image of Africa in accordance with their own soft power foreign policy strategies. The findings of the research confirm the central thesis that the state and structure of mass media directly reflect the nature of the political regime. In countries with authoritarian systems, the media function as a tool for consolidating power, whereas in stable democracies, a competitive environment is formed.