Imagine a world without the media, where we have no verified information about what’s going
on around us. Where everything is hearsay and gossip, where there are no trusted sources of
information. It would be hard to operate in a world like that: to make decisions about what to
do about the things that affect our lives.Think for a minute too about what it would mean for those in power; they would be able to act as if we, the people, did not exist.
IPS Imagine a world without the media, where we have no verified information about what’s going onaround us. Where everything is hearsay and gossip, where there are no trusted sources of
information. It would be hard to operate in a world like that: to make decisions about what to do
about the things that affect our lives.
Think for a minute too about what it would mean for those in power; they would be able to act as if
we, the people, did not exist. It would be impossible to hold them to account, to know that they’re
keeping the election promises they made in their wordy manifestos, and it would be impossible for
our voices to be heard. Similarly, it would be difficult to know how companies are behaving, how
they are treating their workers and the environment, and whether they are colluding to extract ever
more from our pockets.
The role of the media in providing credible information, of giving voice to the people and holding
those in power to account is fundamental to the realisation of our freedom and human rights. Whilst
there are differences of opinion about whether the media are part of civil society, what is undisputed
is the key role that they play in social and economic development, democracy, human rights and the
pursuit of justice. Organisations and activists that work on social issues and help articulate public
opinion need the media to disseminate the voices they represent. Without a plurality of voices, ideas
are diminished, debate is stifled and tolerance is weakened.
Yet, or perhaps because of their role in giving voice and speaking truth to power, the media are
increasingly under attack from both governments and corporate interests.
In its recently released World Press Freedom Index (https://rsf.org/en/news/2016worldpressfreedomindexleadersparanoidaboutjournalists),
Reporters Without Borders say that there has
been a “deep and disturbing decline in respect for media freedom at both the global and regional
levels” and that there is a “climate of fear and tension combined with increasing control over
newsrooms (https://rsf.org/en/reports/2016worldpressfreedomindexdeepanddisturbingdeclinemediafreedom)
by governments and privatesector interests.”
This assault on journalistic freedom takes many forms, including regular harassment of journalists,
censorship, confiscation of equipment, closure of media outlets, arrests and in some cases direct and
dire attack. Research by the Committee to Protect Journalists is quite chilling: 72 journalists were
murdered (https://cpj.org/killed/2015/) in 2015 and a further 199 imprisoned
(https://cpj.org/imprisoned/2015.php).
In Africa, the situation for media varies in different countries across the continent. Alongside Eritrea
and Ethiopia as two of the most censored countries (https://cpj.org/2015/04/10mostcensoredcountries.php)
in the world – in first and fourth place respectively – there are countries like
Namibia, Ghana, Cape Verde and South Africa that score highly when it comes to freedom of
information (even though those countries too experience challenges to media freedom). However, in
far too many African countries the media come under regular attack and freedom of information
remains a distant right.
There is perhaps no clearer indication of both the importance of the media and the assault it faces
than when governments crackdown on journalists and media houses in the run up to and during
elections. In January this year,Ugandan officials shutdown
(http://civicus.org/index.php/en/mediacentre129/newsandresources127?start=20) an
independent radio station after it broadcast an interview with a leading opposition candidate. A few
months earlier, police shot and injured radio journalist Ivan Vincent as he covered squabbles
between supporters of the leading opposition candidate and the police. Between October 2015 and
January 2016, the Human Rights Network for Journalists–Uganda documented about “40 election
related incidents (https://hrnjuganda.org/?wpfb_dl=55) in which journalists have been shot at,
assaulted, their gadgets damaged, detained and released without charge and blocked from accessing
news scenes.”
The situation for media in Burundi following the violence and repression that started ahead of last
year’s election has not improved, and some say that the country has seen the near complete
destruction of independent media withjournalists and civil society being targeted
(http://www.ipsnews.net/2015/06/civilsocietyjournalistsriskdeathasburundicrackdownintensifies/).
Facing shutdowns and direct attacks, many journalists have fled the country out of fear
for their lives.
Similarly, during the last year in Djibouti and the Republic of Congo, the desire of leaders to hold
onto power and to silence voices opposing them, contributed to electionrelated violence and media
repression.
Of course, the media don’t only face attack during elections. In Angola, the government has kept a
decadeslong close watch on the media, frequently arresting and harassing those it disagrees with.
Currently, journalist Domingos da Cruz (http://www.civicus.org/index.php/en/mediacentre
129/newsandresources127/2389civicuscondemnssentencingof17angolanactivistsurgestheirrelease)
is one of 17 activists in prison for his participation in a private gathering to discuss
nonviolent strategies for civil disobedience.
An Ethiopian human rights advocate that spoke with CIVICUS recently
(http://www.civicus.org/index.php/en/mediacentre129/newsandresources127/2354moreactionneededtostophumanrightsviolationsinethiopia)
reiterated that “Ethiopia has for a long
time severely restricted press freedom and the work of civil society. It is one of the top countries when
it comes to jailing journalists, many of whom it charges under the 2009 antiterrorism law.”
This attack on the media is itself part of a broader attack on the fundamental freedoms of
expression, association and assembly that CIVICUS has been documenting during the last few years
(in 2015 there were serious violations of these freedoms in more than 100 countries). Attacks on the
media often go hand in hand with those on activists and organisations that challenge or question the
powers that be. In many countries, this crackdown happens with impunity and attacks often go
unpunished.
While governments are the main culprits when it comes curtailing media freedom, the private sector
also often seeks to control or manipulate media outputs in ways that favour them and their narrow
interests: putting profit before people. This takes place in multiple ways, from the concentration of
media ownership (http://sacsis.org.za/site/article/213.1) and the power that allows corporates to
yield, to bribing journalists (http://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/article/201510
03/193135/) and influencing editorial content (https://cpj.org/2014/02/attacksonthepressadvertising.php)
in exchange for paid advertising.
Often caught between state repression and corporate influence, media in many African countries
face huge challenges. While there is no onesizefitsall solution to these challenges a key part of the
solution must be to support independent media, including citizenjournalism; for regional
governance institutions to hold African countries accountable and for African countries to hold each
other accountable; and for education and awareness about rights related to freedom of information
and expression.
With regard to the latter, recent research (http://www.pewglobal.org/2015/11/18/globalsupportforprincipleoffreeexpressionbutoppositiontosomeformsofspeech/)
shows that there is
widespread support for media freedom and freedom of expression in Africa but that support for
these rights is not universal. In some contexts, journalistic ethics need to be strengthened; media
outlets need to invest more in their journalists and support for independent media amongst civil
society and the general public needs to be amplified. We need to look towards innovation too, to
think of ways to use inexpensive technology to produce peoplepowered information and data.
Media that is accurate, credible, ethical and impartial is crucial to development, freedom, human
rights and justice in Africa – as it is elsewhere. A study on freedom of expression across 34 African
countries (http://allafrica.com/stories/201310160725.html) in 2013 showed the link between this
most basic right and a range of factors, stating that “freedom of expression is also consistently linked
to better ratings of government performance, especially with respect to government effectiveness in
fighting corruption, but also in other sectors such as maintaining roads and managing the
economy.”
Given the challenges we face on the continent, the current media crackdown is untenable and
dangerous, and does nothing to facilitate the progress so many are working hard to achieve. As
citizens of Africa, we need to increase our efforts to protect those that give us voice and help us
realise the full scope of our rights.
Zubair Sayed is the Head of Communication and Campaigns at CIVICUS, a global alliance of
civil society organisations
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