tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/windhoek-declaration-27109/articlesWindhoek Declaration – The Conversation2018-05-16T13:17:09Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/964292018-05-16T13:17:09Z2018-05-16T13:17:09ZWhy economic questions are key to Africa’s media freedom debate<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218973/original/file-20180515-122906-16jtx8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">South African opposition party leader, Mmusi Maimane, addressing the media. A viable media helps promote political accountability. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> EPA-EFE/Brenton Geach</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Press freedom is often thought of in relation to political pressure. There is more than enough evidence that threats, intimidation and imprisonment of journalists remain a serious <a href="https://cpj.org/africa/">cause for concern</a> in Africa. But two recent gatherings on the continent encourage the thinking around press freedom in even broader terms.</p>
<p>One threat that’s getting increasing attention is the lack of media sustainability. This <a href="http://www.dw.com/en/the-long-term-sustainable-media-viable-media/a-18670796">is understood</a> to mean more than just the survival of media. It’s also about access to the resources needed to produce</p>
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<p>high-quality, independent journalism that supports a democratic culture, transparency and development in areas of government, human rights and economics. </p>
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<p>The pressure on sustainability is a more subtle threat than imprisonment and harassment. But it’s also dangerous in the long run.</p>
<p>The issue was at the forefront of debates at a <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201805090693.html">World Press Freedom Day panel discussion</a> in Windhoek, Namibia, and at a gathering of media scholars from around the world, the <a href="http://journalism.co.za/world-media-economics-management-conference-2018/">World Media Economics and Management Conference</a>, in Cape Town.</p>
<p>In Windhoek the focus fell on journalism’s sustainability in conditions of severe economic uncertainty. In Cape Town, the main focus was on the threat to media sustainability and journalism globally, posed by tech giants such as Facebook, Google and Twitter. Their enabling of “fake news”, aggregation of content and hoarding of advertising spend, formed part of a broader panic about failing media business models.</p>
<p>The sustainability of the news media is a precondition for good journalism in the public interest. So economic questions should form part of discussions of press freedom. And that has implications for media ethics.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.irex.org/media-sustainability-index-archived-reports#africa">Media Sustainability Index (MSI) </a> conducted by the NGO IREX recently found that media sustainability in the region was on the decline. It found that</p>
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<p>financing and media management is the weak link, threatening sustainability and independence… (I)t is clear that business management and sources of funding for the media (…) form the missing foundation for many other aspects of media health and <a href="https://www.cima.ned.org/publication/pathways-to-media-reform-in-sub-saharan-africa/">are a cause for concern</a>.</p>
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<h2>Sustainability fears</h2>
<p>South Africa is often considered to be a <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14094760">major media player</a> on the continent. But an important <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c8PfDb2VYjPiPNLvFciYXCx8F2NPcnpC/view?ts=5af04336">new report</a> by Rhodes University Professor Harry Dugmore shows how fears about sustainability potentially hamstring the country’s media in fully fulfilling its democratic role. </p>
<p>Print media circulation has fallen steeply in recent years. Media organisations are struggling to make money out of the migration of audiences to online platforms. The result, the report shows, has been cutbacks on investigative journalism, shrinking newsrooms and the capture of some media by joint oligarchic and political forces.</p>
<p>Similar trends were found in a <a href="https://www.namibian.com.na/67146/read/Traditional-media-survival-threatened">draft report</a> presented in Windhoek by the <a href="http://www.ippr.org.na/">Institute for Public Policy Research</a>. It shows how negative economic conditions in the country, combined with failing business models, have led to a loss of senior journalists, retrenchments and closures of media outlets.</p>
<p>The problem of collapsing business models in Africa is compounded by weak economies and struggling advertiser markets. In such circumstances, media become particularly vulnerable to capture by political interests, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02560054.2009.9653399?src=recsys">unethical practices</a>, such as <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/listeningpost/2015/09/nigeria-brown-envelope-journalists-150913113556304.html">“brown envelope journalism”</a> or cut corners to produce superficial journalism.</p>
<p>But there remain many African journalists who have courageously weathered economic crises. They can serve as examples to the world. The most recent example was the role South African journalists played in exposing <a href="https://www.news24.com/Columnists/GuestColumn/how-investigative-journalists-helped-turn-the-tide-against-corruption-20180319">‘state capture’</a> by former President Jacob Zuma’s friends, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-22513410">the Guptas</a>. </p>
<h2>Digital media</h2>
<p>A great deal of hope is being pinned on digital media to provide more avenues for information and citizen participation. There are some inspiring examples of this in Africa. These range from independent news websites such as <a href="https://www.groundup.org.za/">Groundup</a> to <a href="http://www.africanbloggerawards.com/">interesting blogs</a> and <a href="http://www.dw.com/en/citizen-reporters-voice-of-the-voiceless-in-rural-uganda/a-19045282">citizen journalism on mobile platforms</a>.</p>
<p>But digital media is not exempt from political capture, as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-pr-giant-bell-pottinger-made-itself-look-bad-83529">Bell Pottinger saga</a> in South Africa showed. It drove the Guptas’ divisive <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/sep/05/bell-pottingersouth-africa-pr-firm">“white monopoly capital” campaign</a>.</p>
<p>On top of this, access to digital media is still unequal. Not everyone can afford data costs to access the internet. And the presence of the tech giants can <a href="https://medium.com/@chrisroper/african-newsrooms-need-to-win-the-war-on-truth-b21f7bbb7c98">erode</a> independent media’s foothold in Africa.</p>
<p>The challenge is to create models for African media that are sustainable enough to provide journalists with freedom and independence. They must also be relevant to local audiences, and keep the core values of journalism (public interest, truth, human dignity) as their primary goal, rather than chase profits as an end in itself.</p>
<p>This calls for creativity and adaptability, as well as a keen focus on rebuilding trust with audiences and communities. </p>
<p>Suggestions from the conferences included that journalists should immerse themselves in communities, and media houses build relationships with audiences to regain trust. This is especially important in the age of ‘fake news’. Public meetings and events could put media houses in contact with audiences. Digital platforms should be used to meet audiences where they are. </p>
<p>Trust and relationships will be key to charting a sustainable future for news media. If communities trust the media, they can become their allies against political interference, and help support the role of journalists. As CNN’s Christiane Amanpour has <a href="https://hermanwasserman.wordpress.com/2013/09/06/speaking-truth-to-power-media-politics-and-accountability/">reportedly reminded</a> her journalism colleagues: </p>
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<p>Trust and credibility are the commodities we trade in.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This article is based on a presentation made at a World Press Freedom Day event in Windhoek, Namibia, where the author was an invited guest of the Namibia Media Trust.</span></em></p>The sustainability of the news media is a precondition for good journalism in the public interest. Thus, economic questions should form part of discussions of press freedom.Herman Wasserman, Professor of Media Studies and Director of the Centre for Film and Media Studies, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/760272017-04-18T15:21:21Z2017-04-18T15:21:21ZThe state of South African journalism: There’s good news and there’s bad news<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164830/original/image-20170411-26715-16fbhzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">South Africa's media landscape has changed fundamentally.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Wits University’s Journalism and Media Studies Department have just published their latest State of the Newsroom report. The annual publication maps key developments in the South African media landscape – from changes in circulation and audiences, to shifts in media ownership, digital trends in the newsroom, transformation of the news media, political, legal and regulatory issues, and the status of media freedom in the country. Politics and Society Editor Thabo Leshilo asked the editor and lead researcher …</em></p>
<p><strong>What is the “State of the Newsroom” report and what does it say?</strong></p>
<p>State of the Newsroom 2015-2016 is called <a href="http://www.journalism.co.za/stateofnewsroom/"><em>Inside/Outside</em> </a> to try catch the dynamic of multiple sources of media and news that we are confronted with, a lot of it falling outside of the “mainstream” news. </p>
<p>Although we still have “newsrooms” in the normal sense of professional journalists and media houses, we also have very vibrant independent media sites and projects – The <a href="https://www.thedailyvox.co.za/">Daily Vox</a>, <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/">Daily Maverick</a>, <a href="http://www.groundup.org.za/">GroundUp</a>, or projects like <a href="http://www.witsjusticeproject.co.za/">The Justice Project</a> that “write into the news”.</p>
<p>During the recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-african-student-protests-are-about-much-more-than-just-feesmustfall-49776">#FeesMustFall protests</a>, students and academics <a href="https://twitter.com/NMMUFMF">reported </a>from the frontline using social media, and were a source of news from the coalface of the protests for many people. The #FeesMustfall protests showed how independent news producers, like The Daily Vox, could cover unfolding events <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thedailyvox/posts/1021472407978175">more effectively</a> than the mainstream media, and how student social media impacted on the coverage offered by the mainstream. </p>
<p>All of this makes us ask: What exactly do we mean by the “newsroom” today? This State of the Newsroom tries to contribute to the discussion on this phenomenon. </p>
<p><strong>Are there causes for concern? What are the most significant ones, especially in the era of fake news?</strong></p>
<p>If we look at the media landscape generally, there are good and bad signs. For instance, the <a href="http://www.presscouncil.org.za/">Press Council</a> is reinvigorating itself and now has an ombudsperson for online media. The <a href="http://www.sanef.org.za/">South African National Editors Forum</a> has been vocal on issues of media freedom. There are new measurements for broadcast statistics. </p>
<p>I think the diversity of content available is undeniably a good thing. But retrenchments also continue, and newspaper <a href="http://www.bizcommunity.com/PDF/PDF.aspx?l=196&c=15&ct=1&ci=157443">circulation is down</a>. For the first time free newspapers declined in circulation too. </p>
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<p>The government has bungled the <a href="http://www.channel24.co.za/TV/News/etv-wins-digital-tv-box-case-as-court-slams-minister-as-confused-20160531">digital terrestrial television process</a> – again. Of course, the SABC remains a mess, and the desire by the state to control what’s news is felt increasingly, whether through its <a href="http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/media/2015/10/19/zuma-defends-call-for-media-appeals-tribunal">Media Appeals Tribunal proposal</a>, or <a href="https://www.apc.org/en/pubs/apcs-written-submission-south-africa-cybercrimes-a">draft legislation</a> that tries to tighten the grip on the free flow of information in the public interest.</p>
<p>Other signs of concern are the influence management has on editors. Editorial independence in the newsroom is being corroded. </p>
<p>As far as <a href="http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2017/04/17/Huffington-Post-SA-blog-calling-for-white-men-to-be-disenfranchised-a-%E2%80%98sad-day-for-journalism%E2%80%99%E2%80%9A-says-Media24-boss">fake news</a> goes, in some ways I think it’s a red herring. I hope that it will only make news consumers more critical and start to question the veracity of what they read through habit. So I think there’s an upside to fake news. </p>
<p>More worrying is when it starts to look like deliberate propaganda. This goes hand-in-hand with the willingness of political parties and other public speakers to be less than truthful with the facts, or deliberately feeding the public false facts. </p>
<p><strong>What is your view on the growth of alternative news platforms, including the ANC’s in-house news service and the government’s increased use of social media to report on themselves</strong></p>
<p>I think we need to be careful about calling some of these initiatives “alternative”, which in South Africa has a positive, politically progressive history in terms of news media. I have mentioned some initiatives that could be described in this way. </p>
<p>But we are also seeing in South Africa what happens all over the world: social media and the internet being used by the state and its allies and supporters to create a counter-narrative to what’s out there. Perhaps we should call it propaganda 2.0. There’s nothing necessarily unusual about that. </p>
<p><strong>What are the positives and dangers associated with such alternative news platforms as seen against the role of a free press in a democracy?</strong></p>
<p>I think we need to start at the beginning and ask ourselves: What does a free press really look like? What do we want? Does the <a href="http://www.un.org/en/events/pressfreedomday/windhoek.shtml">Windhoek Declaration</a> on press freedom matter anymore? Do journalists care about our human rights? Are they prepared to be watchdogs to those rights? And if they aren’t, is our press free? </p>
<p>Just as there’s no point talking about a free press if there is unfettered state control, there’s no point talking about a free press if our editors are told what’s in the public interest by advertisers and managers. We have the constitutional guarantees, and indices such as <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/regions/sub-saharan-africa">Freedom House</a> more or less say we are free. Certainly more than other Africa states such as Angola or The Gambia or Zimbabwe.</p>
<p>But we also know that <a href="http://www.giswatch.org/en/country-report/communications-surveillance/south-africa">journalists are surveilled</a> – or at least feel they are which is as bad – and that reporters are kicked out of press conferences, and increasingly coming under physical threat when covering events: from students, from party supporters, from police or private security firms. So there’s no generally accepted idea, of a free press floating around.</p>
<p>At the same time, what contribution the media can make to democracy is not necessarily being answered by what’s being published by mainstream media. Instead, as Levi Kabwato, one of the authors in this year’s State of the Newsroom who looked at transformation in the press found, editors say this kind of thing:</p>
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<p>I received more threats from owners and executives than from politicians in my entire term as editor. The people we had to be careful of were the owners. I received more threatening letters from companies than politicians. Owners are the real threat to media freedom.</p>
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<p>We have to think of transformation more broadly than just how many black people or women are employed in a newsroom, or in terms of ownership. It’s about content too – what’s covered, and why. </p>
<p>This is why the independent and alternative media platforms are so interesting. Just look what <a href="https://www.thedailyvox.co.za/who-we-are/">The Daily Vox</a> says about itself. It wants to: “put the young citizen at the centre of news”. Or <a href="http://www.groundup.org.za/about/">GroundUp</a>: “We report news that Is in the public interest, with an emphasis on the human rights of vulnerable communities.” And they are doing it with a fraction of the budget that big media houses have at their disposal. Good journalism doesn’t necessarily have to cost money.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76027/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alan Finlay is a lecturer in the Department of Journalism and Media studies at Wits University.</span></em></p>The growth of new, vibrant, independent media sites and projects in South Africa have challenged conceptions of what a newsroom is. On limited budgets, some even fare better than mainstream media.Alan Finlay, Lecturer: Journalism and Media Studies, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/582272016-04-29T13:09:34Z2016-04-29T13:09:34ZPress freedom violations undermine African Union’s vision of transparency<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120664/original/image-20160429-10515-11t5qwm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ethiopians reading newspapers in the capital Addis Ababa. The country's media is among the most repressed on the continent. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Tiksa Negeri</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>One key measure of a country’s levels of freedom and democracy is how the government treats journalists and how free they are to do their work. </p>
<p>Sadly, based on a range of measures, including number of deaths, detention and government control of the media, the situation for journalists has worsened in the world. </p>
<p>Three organisations monitor press freedom across the world. They are the <a href="https://www.cpj.org/">Committee to Protect Journalists</a>, <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/article/freedom-press-2016-battle-dominant-message">Freedom House</a> and <a href="https://rsf.org/en/ranking">Reporters without Borders</a>. All use similar indicators: how many journalists have been killed and jailed, how many media outlets are government owned, how many are independent, how many news outlets were sued for libel, and what kind of freedom of information and expression laws a country has.</p>
<p>In the past decade there has been no real change for most countries’ press freedom scores. The same offenders in the Middle East, the East and Africa show up time and again, while some go up a few notches and others down.</p>
<p>Last year saw a marked increase in the number of deaths, with 72 journalists killed across the world compared with 24 in 2000. The deadliest country was war-torn Syria, with <a href="http://en.unesco.org/world-press-freedom-day-2016">14 deaths</a>. Ten journalists have been killed globally so far this year.</p>
<p>According to the the Committee to Protect Journalists, there are 199 journalists in jail today <a href="https://cpj.org/imprisoned/2015.php">compared with 81 in 2000</a>. China is the worst offender, with 49.</p>
<p>Apart from China other countries notorious for jailing journalists are once more mainly in the Eastern bloc and in Africa. The main offenders include: Egypt (23), Eritrea (17), Turkey (14) and Ethiopia (10). Azerbaijan and Syria have seven journalists in jail each and the Gambia two.</p>
<p>In Africa, Namibia tops the press freedom charts and Egypt is the worst country for journalists. Significantly, notoriously poor performers Ethiopia and Gambia are respectively homes to the African Union (AU) and the African Commission of Human and <a href="http://www.achpr.org/">People’s Rights</a>.</p>
<p>Their bad scores on media freedom, including detentions and constraints on the ability of journalists to do their jobs, call into question the AU’s professed commitment to media freedom, and freedom of information and expression. This stands in contradiction to the continental body’s vision against corruption and for democracy. </p>
<h2>Gambia and media freedom</h2>
<p>Although Article 25 of the Gambian constitution provides for <a href="https://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/research/gambia-constitution.pdf">freedom of expression and of the press</a>, the government does not respect these rights. </p>
<p>Defamation and <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2015/gambia">“dissemination of false information”</a> are criminal offences, on par with sedition. The country’s draconian Information and Communications Act prescribes a 15-year jail term and a fine of 3 million dalasi ($77,000) for anyone using the internet to spread “false news”, make “derogatory statements”, “incite dissatisfaction”, or “instigate violence against the government or public officials”.</p>
<p>Freedom House gives Gambia one of the lowest scores on press freedom in the world: <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2015/gambia">81 out of 100</a>.</p>
<p>Reporters without Borders also scores the country really badly. Using freedom of expression and access to information measures, it places the country at <a href="https://rsf.org/en/ranking">number 151 out of 180 countries</a>. Eritrea is last. In Africa Namibia scores the highest, at number 17, and South Africa is number 39. </p>
<h2>Ethiopia and media freedom</h2>
<p>Ethiopia has been ruled by the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary <a href="http://www.economist.com/topics/ethiopian-peoples-revolutionary-democratic-front">Democratic Front</a> for the past 23 years. It has progressively shown itself to be <a href="http://www.journalism.co.za/blog/journalism-ethiopia-jobs-acts-terrorism/">anything but democratic</a>.</p>
<p>A myriad of stumbling blocks have stood against media freedom and freedom of expression in Ethiopia. They include, <a href="http://www.journalism.co.za/blog/journalism-ethiopia-jobs-acts-terrorism/">among other things</a>:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The Broadcasting Service Proclamation of 2007 gives the government extensive control over the broadcast media through the Ethiopian Broadcasting Authority, which is appointed by and financially dependent upon the government.</p></li>
<li><p>The state has a monopoly over printing presses and applies and enforces standardised printing contracts with restrictive terms for private media.</p></li>
<li><p>The government continuously filters content and blocks numerous websites from being accessed in the country, especially those carrying politically critical content.</p></li>
<li><p>The country’s Freedom of the Mass Media and Access to Information <a href="http://www.refworld.org/docid/4ba7a6bf2.html">Proclamation of 2009</a> establishes a licensing system for the printed press, where all written publications must be registered. The government can impound periodicals and books. Extensive duties are imposed on the media, including a mandatory “right of reply” enforced by criminal penalties. Restrictions on media ownership also discourage growth and investment in the sector.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Making the world a safer place for journalists</h2>
<p>The celebration of <a href="http://www.un.org/en/events/pressfreedomday/">World Press Freedom Day </a> provides an opportunity to take stock. This year the day coincides with two important milestones. It is the 250th anniversary of the <a href="http://www.freedominfo.org/2015/11/swedes-finns-planning-17662016-anniversary/">world’s first freedom of information law</a>, which covered both modern Sweden and Finland. This law appears to have set the benchmark for all future efforts.</p>
<p>This year is also the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the <a href="http://en.unesco.org/world-press-freedom-day-2016">Windhoek Declaration</a> of press freedom principles adopted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) in Namibia in 1991. It set out to make governments and citizens acknowledge that the free flow of information is a fundamental right. </p>
<p>World Press Freedom Day celebrates the fundamental principles of press freedom. It’s a moment to evaluate press freedom around the world, to defend the media from attacks on their independence and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession.</p>
<p>Unesco’s theme for this year’s <a href="http://en.unesco.org/world-press-freedom-day-2016">World Press Freedom</a> Day is “Freedom of Information”. Its conference, to be held in Helsinki, Finland, will wrestle with how best states can protect journalists. The focus includes how inter-organisational cooperation through United Nations agencies, governments, NGOs, media and academia can be strengthened to better protect journalists. It will also look at what media organisations and journalists can do better ensure their own safety.</p>
<p>The AU needs to take the Windhoek Declaration to heart and also commit to its own principles of democracy and transparency. These principles intrinsically link press freedom, freedom of expression and the safety of journalists. It’s difficult to see how the continental body can ensure their observance while turning a blind eye to their continued violation in its key host countries.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58227/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Glenda Daniels is affiliated with the South African National Editors Forum (Sanef)</span></em></p>Press freedom has changed little in the past decade. If the African Union is to commit to the principles of democracy, it needs to do more to uphold freedom of expression and protects its journalists.Glenda Daniels, Senior Lecturer in Media Studies, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/586042016-04-29T04:27:21Z2016-04-29T04:27:21ZMedia freedom has come a long way in Africa, but it’s still precarious<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120547/original/image-20160428-28061-vwfzm1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Workers arrange copies of the ‘Business Daily’, produced by Kenya's Nation Media Group, the biggest newspaper publisher in East Africa.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Thomas Mukoya</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Reporters Without Borders’ latest <a href="http://rsf.org/en/ranking">World Press Freedom Index</a> shows two interesting things. Namibia, ranked number 17, has the most improved press freedom environment in the world. And Africa, with the exception of North Africa, came second in rankings on the most improved media environment since 2015.</p>
<p>Namibia’s rise in this ranking is stunning. Among the 180 nations that were ranked, it places the country close to the top-ranked Scandinavian nations, including Finland at number one, Netherlands (two), Norway (three) and Denmark (four). These countries also feature in the top five positions on the United Nations Index on <a href="http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-development-index-hdi">Human Development</a>.</p>
<p>Among African nations, Namibia ranks higher than South Africa (39), the country with the best constitutional protections for media freedom, and arguably the most extensive media infrastructure on the continent.</p>
<p>Indexes of the performance of nations on various indicators are growing in importance. But they should not be taken as the definitive indicator of the state of press freedom in any country or region. The situation in every newsroom – or an individual journalist’s circumstances – can be worse than the ranking of a particular nation.</p>
<p>Interestingly Namibia is the home of the <a href="http://www.unesco.org/webworld/fed/temp/communication_democracy/windhoek.htm">1991 Windhoek Declaration</a> on a Free, Independent and Pluralistic Press. It was followed ten years later by the <a href="http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/files/5628/10343523830african_charter.pdf/african%2Bcharter.pdf">African Broadcasting Charter</a> calling for a pluralistic and diverse broadcasting system in the public interest. The Windhoek Declaration is the reason why May 3 was declared <a href="http://www.un.org/en/events/pressfreedomday/">World Press Freedom Day</a> by the United Nations.</p>
<p>But a historical perspective provides better insight on the state of media freedom and its role in Africa today than rankings or indexes.</p>
<h2>The dismal decades</h2>
<p>At the time of the Windhoek Declaration in 1991 most of Africa, including South Africa, was only starting on a journey towards improved media freedom. This, after decades in which one-party states, military regimes and the then apartheid regime had committed some of the worst violations of media freedom ever to be visited on journalists and the media.</p>
<p>Among some of the worst violations were routine arrests, detentions, imprisonment, killings and the exiling of journalists. Along with these were the bombing of printing presses, closure of critical media houses and state control of the broadcasting system and its regulation. Draconian laws were also passed preventing the normal functions of journalists.</p>
<p>Lighter versions of the same violations were also evident in the few African countries considered democracies because of their pluralist politics. Examples include <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2015/botswana">Botswana</a>. In fact Africa was known in the 1970s and 1980s as the continent that jails its journalists. But it did not have a monopoly. Asia and Latin America shared the same dubious distinction.</p>
<p>In most countries privately owned media that were editorially independent from state control were often fewer and smaller than state-run print media and news agencies.</p>
<h2>New century heralds new hope</h2>
<p>By the time the African Charter on Broadcasting was adopted in 2001, the state of media freedom across the continent appeared to have experienced a sea change. But it is also true that some countries had experienced some deterioration. </p>
<p>For example, Zimbabwe had entered a period of <a href="http://www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/index.php/crises/crisis-in-zimbabwe">political crisis</a>, leading to a <a href="http://www.worldpress.org/Africa/113.cfm">media management regime</a> that included registration of journalists and media houses, arrests of journalists and the continued monopoly of the state broadcaster, as well as closure of a privately owned daily newspaper.</p>
<p>In the 1990s, as pluralist politics characterised by multi-party elections took root <a href="https://theconversation.com/democracy-in-africa-the-ebbs-and-flows-over-six-decades-42011">across the continent</a>, a trend developed to license privately owned FM radio stations and television channels. Privately owned newspapers and magazines emerged. Online media also sprang up as Africa was connected to the internet and there was a hype that the future lay in digital or new media that was not easy for governments to control.</p>
<p>The competition between state and privately controlled media expanded the space for media freedom. In this context media were better able to strive to become independent sources of information and analysis. They could broaden public debate and dialogue, engage in investigative journalism as a watchdog of the public and give a voice to a wider range of people beyond government elites.</p>
<p>For the first time it felt as though the vision of the Windhoek Declaration and the African Charter on Broadcasting could be realised.</p>
<p>This nascent pluralism and vibrancy in which some media exposed corruption and misgovernance gave hope that the African media would now play a vigorous watchdog role that would usher in an era of accountability necessary for democratic governance.</p>
<h2>Push back and hostility</h2>
<p>The 15 years since 2001 have been characterised by a growing trend towards respecting the freedom of the media and expanding spaces for freedom of expression. But the trend hides many contradictions, some of which are identified in the <a href="http://rsf.org/en/ranking">World Press Freedom Indexes</a>. </p>
<p>There is definitely some push back by governments. Despite the end of the era of legislated one-party rule, some leaders are reluctant to leave power. In these efforts to retain power against democratic norms, journalists and the media are casualties. Burundi is a recent example that has been cited in the Word Press Freedom Index.</p>
<p>There is also a general hostility towards media’s attempts to probe and hold public officials to account. Politicians and public officials are often uneasy with regular engagement and requests for information. A culture of secrecy is still dominant and in some cases media legislation restricting access to information is still retained in the statute books from the <a href="http://pensouthafrica.co.za/rights-organisations-welcome-the-decision-of-african-court-to-strike-down-burkina-fasos-criminal-defamation-law-and-call-on-african-governments-to-repeal-similar-laws/">colonial</a> or <a href="http://www.fxi.org.za/archive/Linked/update/augoctup/laws.htm">apartheid</a> eras. New legislation meant to promote access is often too cumbersome to use by journalists or carries new ways to restrict access.</p>
<p>Even private ownership has not necessarily come with the editorial and programming independence from owners and advertisers. <a href="http://themediaonline.co.za/2014/04/the-evolution-of-african-media-over-20-years-south-africa/">Commercial pressures</a> place constraints on journalists and editors trying to serve the public interest.</p>
<p>Part of the problem is that the new owners are often politicians or politically linked individuals or groups wishing to promote their own interests or curry favour with governments for commercial gain. Cross ownership across many economic sectors by owners can also create taboos on what can be reported.</p>
<h2>Economic factors</h2>
<p>A factor that limits media freedom often not discussed much in Africa is the effect of weak economies. Weak economies undermine the viability of a media dependent on commercial advertising. They also open up the media to editorial and programming influences that undermine their independence. In such situations large companies that dominate or have a monopoly wield power that has a deleterious effect on media content.</p>
<p>A culture of unethical journalism including <a href="http://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10539/7265/CHEQUEBOOK%20JOURNALISM%20%20A%20South%20African%20Picture%20%20Susan%20Stos.pdf?sequence=1">“cheque book”</a> journalism – where journalists are bought to, for example, smear opponents or divert the public from serious issues – has also crept in. It reduces the credibility that media ought to enjoy with the public. Independent regulation of journalistic ethics is necessary to arrest this trend.</p>
<p>Arrests, temporary closures of media, even online media, and harassment of journalists are not yet things of the past. In some countries like Eritrea, the country at the bottom of the index at 180, being a journalist is an occupational hazard of the worst kind. Five bloggers and journalists were held in jail for a lengthy period in Ethiopia until <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/09/ethiopia-releases-journalists-bloggers-obama-zone-9">July late last year</a>. Licensing regimes are not yet in the hands of independent public-interest bodies as the Charter on Broadcasting recommended.</p>
<p>Media freedom and freedom of expression in Africa is expanding. But we have not yet reached a stage where it is irreversible. Although the role of the media in creating an informed citizenry eager to participate in decision making is increasing, the situation in Africa remains precarious.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58604/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tawana Kupe is affiliated with the following organisations: Media Monitoring Africa, a media advocacy NGO (Non-executive Chairman of the Board); and Amabhungane Investigative Journalism Organisation (Non-executive Chairman of the Board).</span></em></p>Namibia’s rise in the World Press Freedom rankings is stunning. The media environment in Africa, too, has improved. But media closures and the harassment of journalists are not yet things of the past.Tawana Kupe, Deputy Vice Chancellor and Associate Profesor in Media Studies, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.