Supporting Freedom of the Press in Africa

 

World Press Freedom Day was celebrated on 3 May, and most people probably don’t take it too seriously.  We tend to take the various media for granted.  In this country, we read, listen to and watch those outlets that affirm our beliefs and reject those that contradict our views as liars.  However, we retain the ability to read, listen to or watch whatever media we choose.

The last Administration and the current Administration have contrasting relationships between the Presidents and the media that cover them.  President Donald Trump labeled many of the media as enemies of the people, and he had a long-running antagonistic relationship with many in the media, even at times those most favorable to him.  President Joe Biden has a much more positive relationship with those who cover him.  The media seems uninterested in any negative coverage of him…thus far. 

The thing is, however, that neither the previous Administration nor its recent predecessors engaged in crackdowns on media outlets or imprisoned journalists for criticizing them.  Journalists in America can be jailed for withholding the name of a source in a criminal case or revealing information considered to be of national security importance, but not just because they disagree with the government.  Moreover, journalists in America don’t need to worry about the government killing them or otherwise making them disappear.  Criminal elements they cover might, but not the government.  Nevertheless, the United States is rated #44 on the World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders.

Last year, 30 journalists worldwide were killed doing their jobs.  Of that number, 21 were killed in retaliation for doing their jobs, more than twice the 10 such murders in 2019.  Others were killed during conflicts that they were covering.

Unfortunately, the situation for journalists in many countries in Africa is quite perilous, if not always deadly.  In the current World Press Freedom Index, Africa is described as having a varied level of press freedom across its countries that is largely unfree.

“Many different levels of press freedom exist in Africa, from Senegal and its lively newspapers to Eritrea and Djibouti, where there are no privately-owned media at all,” the report states. “After a wave of liberalisation in the 1990s, press freedom violations are now only too common. They include arbitrary censorship, especially on the Internet (by means of ad hoc Internet cuts in some countries), arrests of journalists on the grounds of combatting cybercrime, fake news or terrorism, and acts of violence against media personnel that usually go completely unpunished. Respect for press freedom is still largely dependent on the political and social context. Elections and protests are often accompanied by abuses against journalists. The financial weakness of many media outlets makes them susceptible to political and financial influence that undermines their independence.”

As we encourage African countries to build their democratic systems, practice good governance and respect rule of law, we should keep in mind that the media is considered the fourth estate, behind the executive, legislature and judiciary.  The media is supposed to be the watchdog on government actions.  It is through the media that the people are able to have a window and a voice into government between elections.  Without a functioning media, the people won’t know what their government is doing.  They won’t fully know what’s going on in their country besides what they see around them, and they won’t be able even to put those events they can observe in context to understand their overall meaning in their lives.  Without a functioning media, we all live in the dark about what’s going on around us.

Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day this year, said: "The theme of this year’s World Press Freedom Day, ‘Information as a Public Good’, underlines the indisputable importance of verified and reliable information.  It calls attention to the essential role of free and professional journalists in producing and disseminating this information, by tackling misinformation and other harmful content.”

As the Reporters Without Borders report outlines, press freedom in major African countries is not supportive of freedom of the press.  Of #32 South Africa, the report stated: “An investigative journalism culture is well established but apartheid-era legislation and terrorism laws are used to limit coverage of governments institutions when ‘national interest’ is supposedly at stake. The state security agency spies on some journalists and taps their phones. Others are harassed and subjected to intimidation campaigns if they try to cover certain subjects involving the ruling African National Congress (ANC), government.”

Of #101 Ethiopia, the report stated: “Within months of (Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed) taking office, a new space for freedom of expression had been created by the release of many detained journalists and bloggers and by the decision to restore access to more than 200 news websites and blogs that had been blocked for years. But then the many clashes around the country helped to increase the polarisation of the media landscape, which has not been spared the effects of abusive actions by authorities. In this troubled environment, old bad habits are reemerging.”

Of #120 Nigeria, the report stated: “Nigeria is now one of West Africa’s most dangerous and difficult countries for journalists, who are often spied on, attacked, arbitrarily arrested or even killed. The campaign for the elections in which President Muhammadu Buhari obtained another term in February 2019 was marked by an unprecedented level of disinformation, especially on social media. The all-powerful regional governors are often the media’s most determined persecutors and act with complete impunity.”

Clearly, some governments in Africa have not weaned themselves from the controls on the population utilized during their colonial past and still use tools from that era to combat dissent of any kind.  The temptation to eliminate political competition and/or avoid accountability has been abetted by developed country governments for various purposes over the years, so some African governments have used these archaic practices without much international criticism.

Then there is the matter of media outlets either practicing self-censorship or being influenced by inducements to tell the story of their paymaster.  There have been U.S. government programs to train African journalists on ethics and accepted practices for covering and reporting on events that are newsworthy, but so long as media outlets are underfunded and journalists are too often uncredentialled, the likelihood of bribes paying for favorable or unfavorable coverage is high.  It continues to be accepted practice in some African countries to pay for reporters to put your views out in the media for whom they work.  That is a systemic problem that will not be easy to correct.  It is partly a survival issue, but also an ethical one.  Journalists who must work for a living to survive and take care of their families are vulnerable to bribery, especially when their editors and media owners feel they need to follow the lead of their financial backers or ideological partners in politics and government.  So, the term “free press” means not only freedom from coercion but also freedom from having to pay for coverage.

Media corruption is like any other addiction; once you are involved in it, it becomes difficult to extract yourself.  Once you have taken money to cover a politician or government the way they want, how do you suddenly tell those who have paid you in the past that the game is over, especially if the people you work for tell you to continue?

All too often, many in the West operate under the premise of something being “good enough for Africa,” as though Africans cannot and should not aspire to the highest standards.  Some of the smartest and most ethical people I have ever met were born in Africa, and many of them still live and work there.  So, the work of ensuring that media outlets in Africa are protected from undue government intrusion and from those in politics, engaged in terrorism or operating criminal enterprises will be difficult, but not impossible.  Still, there must be journalists willing to tell the truth as they can best determine it.  There is room for commentators who express a point of view – either theirs or those for whom they front just as there are in this country and others, but they are not journalists and shouldn’t pretend to be.

We all need real journalists operating competently and ethically and without fear of being jailed, beaten or killed.  That is as important in Nashville as it is in Nairobi.