GOVERNMENTS in sub-Saharan Africa are the most intolerant to the practice of journalism; they have twenty five journalists in detention, a majority of them without any charges, according to a new report.
Eritrea tops the African list of shame, for holding 19 of them and declining to give any updates on their conditions or location of detention, the annual journalist Census by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reveals.
Eritrea holds this dubious distinction since 2001when the authorities abruptly closed the private press by arresting at least ten editors without charge or trial. The Eritrean government has refused to confirm if the detainees are still alive, says the CPJ report.
Ethiopia, Gambia and Cameroon are the other African countries mentioned in the list of intolerance to freedom of expression by journalists.
Online and print journalists topped the list of 136 reporters globally, indicating a fresh danger to freelance journalists who do not have the protection offered by large media houses.
On December 1, a total of 25 journalists were imprisoned in Sub-Saharan Africa for their journalism, and nearly 90 percent of these journalists were detained without charges in secret detention facilities.
Interestingly even the United States has joined the list, despite having the fourth Amendment lauded globally by journalism scholars as a shield to the practice of journalism.
China continued to be the worlds worst jailer of journalists, a dishonor it has held for 11 consecutive years, Iran, Cuba, Eritrea, and Burma round out the top five jailers from among the 26 nations that imprison journalists, the Census notes.
But it is the fresh trend to target new media journalists that will have media scholars in the continent devising fresh approaches to the profession.
The days when journalists went off on dangerous assignments knowing they had the full institutional weight of their media organizations behind them are receding into history, said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon.
Today, journalists on the front lines are increasingly working independently. The rise of online journalism has opened the door to a new generation of reporters, but it also means they are vulnerable.
Internet and print journalists make up the bulk of the census. Radio journalists compose the next largest professional category, accounting for 7 percent of cases. Television journalists and documentary filmmakers each account for 3 percent.
Worldwide, a total of 136 reporters, editors, and photojournalists were behind bars, an increase of 11 from the 2008 tally. The survey also found that freelancers now make up nearly 45 percent of all journalists jailed across the globe.
There has been a deliberate and significant increase on new media journalism across the continent over the last two years.
The fact that online journalism is not controlled by advertisement revenue but a passion to expose the truth far beyond what the mainstream can do could be a major factor affecting the security of freelance journalists in the region, Jacque Ooko, the President of the Journalist Association of Kenya (JAK) said when contacted to comment on the report.
-writes Dennis Itumbi for journalism.co.za
Thursday, December 10, 2009
New Zim paper to debut online before print
Newspaper proprietor Trevor Ncube will launch his new Zimbabwean daily newspaper, NewsDay, on the Web six months before the print edition hits the streets.
Ncube, who is deputy chairman of Mail & Guardian publisher M&G Media, explains that this is because the Zimbabwean government has still not issued the licence NewsDay requires before the printing presses can begin rolling.
“We are going to launch NewsDay.co.zw, probably in the next week or so,” Ncube says. “We will use social media like Twitter to help publicise the website.”
The site will be hosted in Zimbabwe — news websites are not subjected to the same draconian licensing rules as newspapers.
Ncube has been waiting nearly a year for a licence to print NewsDay. But he remains optimistic that the political situation in Zimbabwe is slowly returning to normal and that a deal being brokered by SA president Jacob Zuma between Zanu-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change will result in the lifting of restrictions on the country’s media.
“It’s central to the deal,” Ncube says.
“We think the current negotiations, facilitated by president Zuma’s emissaries, look promising and that a deal between the protagonists might be clinched, if not before the end of this year, then certainly by early next year.”
Ncube hopes the print version of NewsDay will hit the streets by June 2010 at the latest. — Duncan McLeod, TechCentral
Ncube, who is deputy chairman of Mail & Guardian publisher M&G Media, explains that this is because the Zimbabwean government has still not issued the licence NewsDay requires before the printing presses can begin rolling.
“We are going to launch NewsDay.co.zw, probably in the next week or so,” Ncube says. “We will use social media like Twitter to help publicise the website.”
The site will be hosted in Zimbabwe — news websites are not subjected to the same draconian licensing rules as newspapers.
Ncube has been waiting nearly a year for a licence to print NewsDay. But he remains optimistic that the political situation in Zimbabwe is slowly returning to normal and that a deal being brokered by SA president Jacob Zuma between Zanu-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change will result in the lifting of restrictions on the country’s media.
“It’s central to the deal,” Ncube says.
“We think the current negotiations, facilitated by president Zuma’s emissaries, look promising and that a deal between the protagonists might be clinched, if not before the end of this year, then certainly by early next year.”
Ncube hopes the print version of NewsDay will hit the streets by June 2010 at the latest. — Duncan McLeod, TechCentral
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Zimbabwe parties target pirate radio stations
Negotiators of the three main political parties in the inclusive government have been meeting to try to break the stalemate that is threatening to completely collapse the already shaky Global Political Agreement.
Last week the state controlled Herald newspaper quoted one of the negotiators, Professor Welshman Ncube from the MDC-M, saying the group had been discussing the same issues - "the appointment of Reserve Bank Governor and Attorney General, sanctions and pirate radio stations."
The external radio stations, London based SW Radio Africa and Voice of America's Studio 7, are forced to broadcast from exile because there is no free media in Zimbabwe and independent radio is not allowed. The only broadcaster is ZBC, which is 100% controlled by the State.
But the MDC owes its claim to power to the services of the "pirate radio stations" and a host of internet based news publications that are an alternative media for the suppressed many voices of disgruntled Zimbabweans. Zimbabwe's story was and continues to be echoed to the outside world through these channels. Analysts say joining ZANU PF in the crusade to shut down "pirate radio stations" the opposition is affirming assertions that they have been "swallowed" by ZANU PF. Media freedom coupled with human rights anchor the opposition's manifesto and they are the trump cards that brought them to power but this sudden change in principle smacks of ingratitude, betrayal and political immaturity.
Political analyst Professor John Makumbe said instead of talking about establishing democratic reforms, the politicians are as usual wasting time while the country is standing still. The MDC has also come under fire for agreeing to the ZANU PF demands to shut down private radio stations.
Makumbe said: "It is obvious that the MDC will never be able to stop the external radio stations - which are operated by Zimbabweans - from operating because they didn't set them up in the first place."
"They are not financing them, they are not funding them and they are not programming them. They have no authority whatsoever over these radios."
Professor Makumbe said ZANU PF is using the sanctions and radio stations issues as a way of stalling the implementation of the GPA and also as a way of denying the MDC their demands, including the swearing in of provincial governors.
He said ZANU PF should implement the outstanding issues first, if it wants western countries to remove 'sanctions' and also open up the air waves to allow other players in. While the politicians are concentrating on shutting down external broadcasters, they have failed to put the Media Commission in place, even though interviews for the commissioners have already been done.
Furthermore, the political analyst pointed out that the ZBC is still broadcasting in a partisan manner in favour of ZANU PF and denigrating the MDC and that there is still a lot of hate speech. Makumbe said the government is the one 'imposing sanctions' by forcing Zimbabwean radio stations to operate from outside.
Meanwhile, the Herald reported that South Africa President Jacob Zuma has appointed a new team to monitor Zimbabwe's fragile government. The team consists of the President's political advisor Charles Nqakula, Zuma's international relations adviser, Lindiwe Zulu and special envoy Mac Maharaj.
Makumbe believes this is a strong team of senior ANC and government officials and that they are likely to make positive inroads, unlike the mediation by former SA President Thabo Mbeki, who he said was a 'very slow man who majored in quiet diplomacy and was clearly partisan in favour of ZANU PF.'
- SW Radio Africa and Simba Nembaware
Last week the state controlled Herald newspaper quoted one of the negotiators, Professor Welshman Ncube from the MDC-M, saying the group had been discussing the same issues - "the appointment of Reserve Bank Governor and Attorney General, sanctions and pirate radio stations."
The external radio stations, London based SW Radio Africa and Voice of America's Studio 7, are forced to broadcast from exile because there is no free media in Zimbabwe and independent radio is not allowed. The only broadcaster is ZBC, which is 100% controlled by the State.
But the MDC owes its claim to power to the services of the "pirate radio stations" and a host of internet based news publications that are an alternative media for the suppressed many voices of disgruntled Zimbabweans. Zimbabwe's story was and continues to be echoed to the outside world through these channels. Analysts say joining ZANU PF in the crusade to shut down "pirate radio stations" the opposition is affirming assertions that they have been "swallowed" by ZANU PF. Media freedom coupled with human rights anchor the opposition's manifesto and they are the trump cards that brought them to power but this sudden change in principle smacks of ingratitude, betrayal and political immaturity.
Political analyst Professor John Makumbe said instead of talking about establishing democratic reforms, the politicians are as usual wasting time while the country is standing still. The MDC has also come under fire for agreeing to the ZANU PF demands to shut down private radio stations.
Makumbe said: "It is obvious that the MDC will never be able to stop the external radio stations - which are operated by Zimbabweans - from operating because they didn't set them up in the first place."
"They are not financing them, they are not funding them and they are not programming them. They have no authority whatsoever over these radios."
Professor Makumbe said ZANU PF is using the sanctions and radio stations issues as a way of stalling the implementation of the GPA and also as a way of denying the MDC their demands, including the swearing in of provincial governors.
He said ZANU PF should implement the outstanding issues first, if it wants western countries to remove 'sanctions' and also open up the air waves to allow other players in. While the politicians are concentrating on shutting down external broadcasters, they have failed to put the Media Commission in place, even though interviews for the commissioners have already been done.
Furthermore, the political analyst pointed out that the ZBC is still broadcasting in a partisan manner in favour of ZANU PF and denigrating the MDC and that there is still a lot of hate speech. Makumbe said the government is the one 'imposing sanctions' by forcing Zimbabwean radio stations to operate from outside.
Meanwhile, the Herald reported that South Africa President Jacob Zuma has appointed a new team to monitor Zimbabwe's fragile government. The team consists of the President's political advisor Charles Nqakula, Zuma's international relations adviser, Lindiwe Zulu and special envoy Mac Maharaj.
Makumbe believes this is a strong team of senior ANC and government officials and that they are likely to make positive inroads, unlike the mediation by former SA President Thabo Mbeki, who he said was a 'very slow man who majored in quiet diplomacy and was clearly partisan in favour of ZANU PF.'
- SW Radio Africa and Simba Nembaware
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