media freedom - The African Mirror

Nov

02

2020

Protect Journalists, Protect the Truth

In the past fourteen years (2006-2019), close to 1,200 journalists have been killed for reporting the news and bringing information to the public. In nine out of ten cases the killers go unpunished. Impunity leads to more killings and is often a symptom of worsening conflict and the breakdown of law and judicial systems. These figures do not include the many more journalists, who on a daily basis suffer from non-fatal attacks, including torture, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, intimidation and harassment in both conflict and non-conflict situations. Furthermore, there are specific risks faced by women journalists, including sexual attacks. Worryingly, only one in…

Oct

28

2020

By The African Mirror

Nigerian considers social media regulation in wake of deadly shooting

MEDIA FREEDOM

NIGERIA’S information minister said "some form of regulation" could be imposed on social media just a week after protesters spread images and videos of a deadly shooting using Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Images, video and an Instagram live feed from a popular DJ spread news of shootings in Lagos on October 20, when witnesses and rights groups said the military fired on peaceful protesters. The protesters had been demonstrating for nearly two weeks to demand an end to police brutality. The army denied its soldiers were there. Social media helped spread word of the shootings worldwide, and international celebrities from…

Oct

19

2020

By The African Mirror

“Why journalism matters. The challenges have changed, but has its core purpose?”

MEDIA FREEDOM

PIPPA GREEN Pippa Green SOME four decades ago, the apartheid government closed down a major black daily, The World, and detained its editor, Percy Qoboza, as well as his deputy Aggrey Klaaste. Government bans the World – read one newspaper poster only slightly ironically That day, October 19th, 1977, became aptly known as “Black Wednesday”. A number of other black journalists were detained at the same time – among them Joe Thloloe, who is the former director of the Press Council. Thloloe was already in jail under Section 6 of the Terrorism Act – which allowed for indefinite detention. So…

Oct

19

2020

By The African Mirror

New threats to media freedom come from unexpected directions

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

FRANZ KRÜGER, Adjunct Professor of Journalism and Director of the Wits Radio Academy, University of the Witwatersrand MEDIA Freedom Day in South Africa marks the anniversary of a brutal crackdown by the apartheid state on the media and the Black Consciousness Movement. The 1977 killing of Black Consciousness icon Steve Biko in police custody drew widespread rage and the state responded by closing newspapers, banning organisations and detaining journalists and activists. That was on October 19 of that year, which became known as Black Wednesday. Since then, South African journalists have used Black Wednesday to draw attention to the importance…

Oct

18

2020

By The African Mirror

The media have muted the voices of women during COVID-19: can the tide be turned?

MEDIA FREEDOM

THEODORA DAME ADJIN-TETTEY, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Rhodes University COVID-19 has distressed societies to the core. Among the fault lines, it has exposed is the fact that gender bias remains rampant in news coverage. A recent special report – The Missing Perspectives of Women in COVID-19 News – shows that too few women experts have been quoted on the pandemic in the media. The study looked at South Africa, Kenya, India, Nigeria, the US and the UK. Put together by the International Women’s Media Foundation and commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the report found that even when a…

Oct

12

2020

By The African Mirror

Media in Kenya up in arms over new curbs on media freedom

MEDIA FREEDOM

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER THE media industry in Kenya has raised serious concerns about new restrictions on media reporting of political events. In a joint statement, the 13 organisations that make up the Kenyan Working Media Sector Group (KWMSG), said the new restrictions, approved by the Kenyan National Security Advisory Committee (NSAC) and national cabinet, would interfere with the work of the media. The government of Kenya has introduced the new curbs in order to address political activity that threatened law and order. The KWMSG said the new restrictions were unnecessary and called for them to be lifted. The institutions said they…

Sep

28

2020

By The African Mirror

Call for more access to information in Africa

MEDIA FREEDOM

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER THE African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR) has called on the 36 African countries that have no laws guaranteeing the promotion and protection of citizens access to information to urgently adopt them. In a statement to commemorate the International Day for Universal Access to Information, the ACHPR called for a renewed commitment to creating an environment where the right of access to information is promoted, protected and realized. “In these unprecedented times during the Covid-19 pandemic, the significance of the right of access to information cannot be overstated. The uncertainty and disruption wrought by the…

Sep

19

2020

By The African Mirror

Amal Clooney quits UK envoy role over ‘lamentable’ international law breach

WORLD

HUMAN rights lawyer Amal Clooney has quit her role as Britain’s special envoy on media freedom in protest at the country’s intention to breach international law over Brexit-related legislation. The British government has drafted a bill which it acknowledges would violate its international legal obligations and undercut parts of the divorce deal it signed before Britain formally left the European Union in January. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the bill was essential to counter “absurd” threats from Brussels but it has prompted resignations and the threat of a rebellion by lawmakers, which appears to have been averted after a…

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…