MEDIA FREEDOM - The African Mirror

Mar

19

2021

Somalian military court sentences journalist to three years in jail

MEDIA FREEDOM

SOMALI Journalists Syndicate (SJS) have protested against the three years jail sentence handed down to freelance journalist Kilwe Adan Farah by Puntland’s Supreme Court of Armed Forces during what SJS and its lawyers described as a farcical kangaroo court trial that took place inside the Garowe Central Prison. Kilwe was removed from his cell in the prison and was taken to a small room where judges announced the verdict where the only other person in attendance was the military prosecutor. Kilwe’s lawyer was not allowed to attend nor was his family. Avv. Mustafe Mohamed Jama, Kilwe’s defense lawyer said: “It is…

Mar

09

2021

By The African Mirror

On International Women’s Day 2021, SJS calls for equal opportunity for women journalists in Somalia

MEDIA FREEDOM

ON International Women’s Day 2021, the Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) calls for an equal opportunity and equal rights for women journalists in Somalia. This year, the International Women’s Day is celebrated with the theme “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.” SJS recognises the tremendous efforts by Somali female journalists working to inform the public amid COVID-19 pandemic and to highlight the gaps that remain. SJS Gender Secretary, Ms. Hinda Dahir Jama speaks on the eve of International Women's Day 2021. | PHOTO CREDIT/Mohamed Jibril for SJS. “Women reporters are braving in the front lines of…

Jul

15

2020

By The African Mirror

Uganda cracks down on media ahead of elections in 2021, watchdog says

MEDIA FREEDOM

ELIAS BIRYABAREMA UGANDA's security forces are cracking down on authors and journalists who challenge the 34-year-old rule of President Yoweri Museveni ahead of elections next year, a watchdog told Reuters. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it documented the cases of at least 10 journalists and writers assaulted by security personnel, detained, or charged with offences to do with their work this year, compared to four such cases last year. "Police and the military have turned political reporting into a dangerous assignment," said Muthoki Mumo, the committee's representative for sub-Saharan Africa. Calls seeking comment to police spokesman…

Jul

14

2020

By The African Mirror

Coronavirus media coverage must avoid the mistakes of the Aids pandemic in Africa

MEDIA FREEDOM

LUDEK STAVINOHA, Lecturer in Media and International Development, University of East Anglia AS COVID-19 becomes the most intensely covered virus in history, there are important lessons to be drawn from the media’s reporting of another global pandemic: HIV/Aids. Whose lives the world deems worthy of saving depends, at least partly, on the stories that journalists tell. This was one of the findings of my research into British media coverage of Africa’s Aids pandemic, in which I analysed 1,281 news reports between 1987 and 2008. At the height of that pandemic, journalists helped to expose how intellectual property laws and the…

Jul

08

2020

By The African Mirror

One of Africa’s biggest media houses feels the impact of COVID-19

MEDIA FREEDOM

STAFF REPORTER THE economic impact of the health disaster brought by COVID-19 is being felt at one of Africa’s biggest media houses. South Africa’s Media24, the biggest media owner in that country, has announced that the tough economic times have forced it to consider closing some of its titles and substantially scale down some of its operations. The closure is expected to lead to job losses in an industry decimated by the onset of COVID-19. Media24 CEO Ishmet Davidson said the media group is considering the closure of five magazines and two newspapers, outsourcing and reducing the frequency of its…

Jul

30

2020

By The African Mirror

Morocco arrests dissident journalist on rape and spy charges

MEDIA FREEDOM

MOROCCAN police have arrested a dissident journalist and charged him with rape and helping foreign spies, a prosecutor said, in a case worrying rights groups. Omar Radi, a business journalist and critic of Morocco's human rights record, was also accused of receiving funds from abroad to undermine Morocco's security, the Casablanca prosecutor's office said in a statement. Radi, 33, denies all the charges, his lawyer Miloud Kandil told Reuters, adding that a first hearing would be on Sept. 22. His arrest follows 10 summons for a police investigation over suspicions of receiving funds linked to foreign intelligence which he denied.…

Jul

29

2020

By The African Mirror

Internet shutdowns in Africa threaten democracy and development

MEDIA FREEDOM

TOMIWA ILORI, Doctoral Candidate and Researcher at the Expression, Information and Digital Rights Unit of the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria MAGNUS KILLANDER, Professor, Centre for Human Rights in the Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria IT'S broadly accepted that there’s a close relationship between development and access to information. One of the first economists to make the link was Amartya Sen, who won the Nobel Prize in 1998 for his contributions to welfare economics. Increasingly over the past two decades, the internet has been a major factor affecting the right to development. The United Nations definition of…

Jul

24

2020

By The African Mirror

How Burundi’s independent press lost its freedom

MEDIA FREEDOM

AIMÉ-JULES BIZIMANA, Professeur au Département des sciences sociales, Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO) OUMAR KANE, Professor of Communication Studies, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) The general and presidential elections of May 2020, followed by the death of President Pierre Nkurunziza, put the international media spotlight on Burundi. The country is now facing one of the darkest times in its history since the 2015 crisis. The crisis that year began when Nkurunziza, who had been in office since 2005, announced he would run for a third term. The move was dubbed unconstitutional and the announcement triggered protests that were…

Jul

23

2020

By The African Mirror

How parts of the media in Ghana aid — rather than fight — corruption

MEDIA FREEDOM

JOSEPH YAW ASOMAH, Assistant Professor, St. Thomas University (Canada) CORRUPTION is a significant obstacle to development, democratic consolidation and environmental security, particularly in the developing world. It involves a misuse of power in serving private ends at the public expense. Corruption occurs in both the public and private sectors. There are different forms of corruption. Political corruption is a classic example. It is often committed by politicians and top government officials acting alone or collaborating with other actors to advance private agendas. In democratic societies, free and independent private media can investigate and expose political corruption. They can also pressurise…

Aug

03

2020

By The African Mirror

Why some governments fear even teens on TikTok

MEDIA FREEDOM

CHRIS BARKER, Assistant Professor of Political Science, American University in Cairo IN Egypt, teenager Menna Abdel Aziz used social media to ask for protection after a sexual assault. She was arrested on a variety of charges, including misusing social media and corrupting family values. Two young women, Haneen Hossam, with 915,000 TikTok followers, and Mawada Eladhm, with 3.1 million TikTok followers, were also arrested for their social influencing videos. Renad Imad, another social media influencer, was arrested after allegations of posting indecent content and prostitution. In late June, belly dancer Sama El-Masry was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for posts…