There was a 64% increase in the coverage of the activities of the inclusive government in the public media, from 220 stories in January to 360 in the month under review. However, there was still no evidence of compliance by these media to provisions of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) requiring them to give equitable coverage to the coalition partners.[more]

Mahoso’s ghost resurfaces

MMPZ welcomes the official appointment of commissioners to the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) and hopes that this will finally expedite the licensing of new newspapers.[more]

Last week, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) organized a workshop in Freetown to discuss the issue of sexual violence in Sierra Leone and ways in which the media could serve a positive role in drawing attention to the matter.[more]

SOME Zanu PF PF youths on Wednesday detained freelance photo-journalist Andrison Manyere for filming a demonstration held in the capital, Harare.[more]

The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about politically motivated censorship in Ivory Coast after authorities banned international French broadcaster France 24 on Monday on bogus allegations of unprofessionalism over coverage of political unrest in the West African nation.[more]

Journalists in Malawi will now be issued accreditation cards for easy recognition and identification by members of the public. This follows the launching of ethics and accreditation booklets by the Media Council of Malawi (MCM), a body that looks into issues of journalism ethics, complaints, arbitration and accreditation. [more]

Three journalists were sentenced to prison on Monday in Rwanda over a story reporting on an extramarital affair between the mayor of the capital, Kigali, and a government minister, according to local journalists and news reports.[more]

MISA - Zimbabwe welcomes the announcement by Zimbabwe’s largest mobile phone services provider Econet Wireless of its advanced plans to link the country with the rest of the world through a fiber optic cable through the Zambian capital of Lusaka. [more]

Eligible and qualified individuals and/or organizations have an opportunity to own broadcasting stations in Malawi following advertisement by the country’s Communications and Regulatory Authority (MACRA) for broadcasting applications. [more]

Job cuts are looming at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) as the new board and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Solly Mokoetle strive to slash costs and reduce the bloated head count of nearly 4 000 employees. Details of the staff cutbacks are yet to be finalised, possible reduction of wage bill, a requirement of the R1.47billion state guarantee as well as being a recommendation of the report handed to the new board by the interim board at the end of its term office.[more]

Nairobi, A mobile phone suspended on a belt round the waist, or from the neck, is a common sight among members of church congregations in Africa. Now, church leaders are heaping praise on mobile phones, sometimes called cell phones, because they say the instruments help congregations grow.[more]

President Robert Mugabe on 11 February 2010 gazetted the establishment of the long awaited Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) amid expectations that the Commission will immediately call for applications for licenses for new and old players in the print media. [more]

Today, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) released a trial observation report, The Gambia: Freedom of Expression on Trial, which raises concerns with respect to the Gambia’s compliance with fair trial standards and the application of criminal law to seven journalists who legitimately and peacefully exercised their right to freedom of expression. [more]

Amnesty International has called for the immediate release of a Somali radio journalist held by the armed group al-Shabab, apparently after a report was broadcast alleging the group had killed a man in the Wanleweyn district.[more]

New York, February 22, 2010—Militants from the Al-Qaeda-allied insurgent group Al-Shabaab abducted a reporter in Somalia on Sunday, according to local journalists and news reports.[more]

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns the Zimbabwean authorities' repeated harassment and intimidation of "The Zimbabwean", a privately-owned newspaper that is edited in Britain and printed in South Africa. In the latest instance, criminal charges of "publishing falsehoods" have been brought against the directors of Adquest, the company that distributes it inside Zimbabwe. No date has yet been set for their trial.[more]

Editing a newspaper is about motivating a team of people to give of their best, and produce gritty, powerful journalism, writes Anton Harber in Business Day. Judging by the air of depression that seems to be pervasive in many newsrooms, too few editors are succeeding in doing that. Anton Harber writes in Business Day:

[more]

The SA National Editors’ Forum is concerned at a new clamp down on foreign and local media in Zimbabwe despite promises by the government that the country’s repressive media laws were under review and would be amended to restore media freedom, according to a media release.[more]

Nana Darkwa, the opposition party sympathizer who was remanded for allegedly implicating Ghana's former president Jerry John Rawlings in a fire that gutted Rawlings' house, was on February 19, 2010 granted bail by an Accra High Court, following an application to that effect by his counsel.[more]

The Federation of African Journalists (FAJ) the African organization of International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) once again condemned the policy of the Tunisian authorities in systematically repressing the independent journalists. [more]

A Civil Law Court in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, on February 17, 2010 ordered the New Democrat, a privately-owned newspaper to pay an outrageous amount of US$ 900,000 as damages for defaming the reputation of Consolidated Group Incorporated, pay per view provider in Liberia. [more]

A Circuit Court in Accra, capital of Ghana, on February 18, 2010 remanded Nana Darkwa, a contributor to a radio discussion programme, into prison custody for two weeks over comments he made on a radio station allegedly implicating Ghana’s former President Jerry John Rawlings in a fire that gutted his (Rawlings’) own house on February 14.[more]

Repressive law used to ‘intimidate’ private media

This week’s attacks on the private media by the chief of police and the subsequent charging, on criminal defamation, of distributors for the foreign - based, privately owned Zimbabwean newspapers, fuels growing cynicism about government’s sincerity in implementing media reforms guaranteed under the Global Political Agreement (GPA).[more]

Four Radio Benghazi journalists who worked on a programme that specialises in covering corruption were arrested yesterday evening outside the station in Benghazi (650 km east of Tripoli) and were released at midday today. Their arrests come amid a general crackdown by the Libyan authorities on news media, especially independent news websites.[more]

Journaliste en Danger (JED) has praise as well as concerns for a new media law passed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 31 December 2009. [more]

The Ghana National Coalition on the Right to Information has expressed concern over the manner in which the government is rushing to pass the Right to Information Bill without regard to due constitutional process as enshrined in the 1992 Constitution.[more]

“I didn’t wear the bulletproof jacket and helmet that Reuters gave me,” explained veteran Somali journalist Sahal Abdulle to a packed crowd at Nairobi’s Serena Hotel for CPJ’s launch of Attacks on the Press. “It didn’t seem right when my colleagues, local journalists, were risking their lives trying to cover the same event.” Abdulle, like all Somali journalists, faces immense challenges in covering the story in his war-ravaged country. According to this year’s findings in Attacks, nearly all the journalists killed in the line of duty in 2009 were local journalists—and nine of them were killed in Somalia.[more]

Authorities censored coverage of armed conflict and human rights violations in the mineral-rich eastern Kivu provinces. Insecurity reigned in the volatile region, despite the presence of the world’s largest U.N. peacekeeping force. Tens of thousands of people continued to die every month from conflict, disease, and famine, while human rights groups detailed pervasive rape and sexual violence. The vast Central African nation remained among the region’s riskiest for journalists three years after it transitioned to democracy in historic U.N.-backed elections. Throughout the country, officials harassed and obstructed journalists who criticized local officials.[more]

Ahead of national elections scheduled for May 2010, the ruling Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) further curtailed the limited freedom of the country’s small number of independent newspapers. The government enacted harsh legislation that criminalized coverage of vaguely defined “terrorist” activities, and used administrative restrictions, criminal prosecutions, and imprisonments to induce self-censorship. In all, four reporters and editors were being held when CPJ conducted its annual census of imprisoned journalists on 01 December 2009.[more]

Authorities jailed six journalists after their publications said President Yahya Jammeh had been insensitive in televised remarks about the unsolved 2004 murder of prominent Gambian editor Deyda Hydara. The six, convicted in August on baseless charges of sedition, were sentenced to two years in prison but were freed in September after Jammeh, facing considerable domestic and international pressure, issued pardons.[more]

Malagasy journalists faced censorship, threats, and arrest as former president Marc Ravalomanana and new head of state Andry Rajoelina used their partisan media empires in a struggle for control of this Indian Ocean island nation. One journalist was killed in the midst of violent unrest.

[more]

In an audacious bid to maintain power, President Mamadou Tandja pushed through constitutional amendments repealing presidential term limits and tightening his control of the state media regulatory agency. Facing heavy criticism in the run-up to an August referendum on the constitutional changes, the Tandja administration silenced dissent by imprisoning critics, intimidating news media, and issuing an emergency decree dissolving both the National Assembly and the Constitutional Court. Official results showed that the amendments passed with 92 percent approval, but opposition politicians and their supporters had boycotted the vote, which they called a mockery of the constitution.[more]

With 21 national dailies, 12 television stations, and several emerging online news sources, Nigeria continued to boast one of the most vibrant news media cultures on the continent. But a series of attacks fanned fears in the press corps and prompted self-censorship.[more]

Somalia was among the world’s deadliest countries in 2009, surpassing violent hot spots such as Iraq and Pakistan. As conflict continued between the weak Transitional Federal Government and multiple insurgent groups, nine journalists were killed in direct connection to their work, seven of them in the volatile capital, Mogadishu. An exodus of local journalists continued throughout the year, and few international journalists dared travel into the country for firsthand reporting, according to CPJ research. As a result, the amount and quality of news coverage of Somalia’s political and humanitarian crisis suffered greatly, CPJ found.[more]

Violent protests broke out in Kampala in September when security forces blocked leaders of the traditional kingdom of the Baganda, Uganda’s largest ethnic group, from visiting Kayunga district for a planned rally, according to local news reports. More than 25 people were killed and 846 people arrested in two days of clashes that underscored political tensions between the government and the kingdom, according to official figures reported in the press.[more]

Press freedom deteriorated in the first full year of Rupiah Banda’s presidency. Tensions mounted between Banda’s government and the leading independent daily The Post. Politicized criminal charges were leveled at Post staff members concerning the circulation of photos that Banda labeled “obscene” but others saw as a shocking look at a government health-care problem. Ruling party supporters were tied to a series of attacks against The Post and other journalists.[more]

In a measure of the deplorable state of press freedom in Zimbabwe, a year marked by harassment and obstruction was considered a small step forward. “Journalists continue to be followed, detained, and abducted; phones and e-mail messages are intercepted; the output of news from government reminds one of Radio Moscow during the Soviet era,” Geoff Hill, exiled Zimbabwean journalist and author, told CPJ.[more]

High numbers of local journalists have fled several African countries in recent years after being assaulted, threatened, or imprisoned, leaving a deep void in professional reporting. The starkest examples are in the Horn of Africa nations of Somalia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea, where dozens of journalists have been forced into exile. Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and the Gambia have also lost large segments of the local press corps in the face of intimidation and violence.[more]

We are writing to draw your attention to conditions that undermine press freedom as guaranteed in Article 29 of the Ethiopian Constitution.[more]

African journalists faced a vast array of violations of their right to press freedom and freedom of expression in 2009. These included intimidation, harassment, threats, attacks, beatings, illegal detentions, arrests and imprisonment. Their equipment was confiscated and destroyed; many were forced to flee their home countries or stop reporting. Media houses were censored and sometimes shut down; their broadcast signals were jammed and copies of their publications were seized. Newspapers, broadcasters and journalists alike faced spurious lawsuits. Many reporters were slapped with criminal charges, often for alleged defamation and sedition, and very often for covering corruption or the activities of security forces. [more]

The text of a speech by Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo to the South African National Editors' Forum (SANEF), Cape Town: It is a privilege and an honour to have been asked to address members of the press, in particular, those affiliated with such a distinguished organisation as SANEF. The American founding father Thomas Jefferson famously quipped, “If it were left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”[more]

“The man who lacks sense enough to despise public opinion expressed in gossip will never do anything great” - this is from Hegel's Philosophy of Right (1822). It's no secret that at CommGAP, we're all big advocates for public opinion, nevertheless we need to be aware of some of the problems that public opinion poses in its role as political factor.[more]

One of the findings on a study done by MISA-Mozambique on behalf of UNESCO on the landscape of media development in Mozambique is that Mozambique has a political and legal framework that is generally favorable to freedom of expression, and to pluralism and diversity in the media, although constraints still persist in the practical application of media-friendly laws and policies. The findings were launched at a conference on 10 February 2010 in Maputo.[more]

The Mozambican police have being harassing reporters who visit Afonso Dhlakama, leader of the country’s main opposition party, Renamo, at his residence in the northern city of Nampula, the independent daily “O Pais” reported on 10 February 2010.[more]

GOVERNMENT will table the Freedom of Information Bill-immediately after parliament resumes its sitting this month. Information and Broadcasting Services Minister RONNIE SHIKAPWASHA says government has already reached an advanced stage in pushing for legislation of the Act.[more]

Johannesburg, (PlusNews) - A sexy new South African television drama is set to show people that love, life and the risk of HIV does not stop after they turn 30. [more]

Government steps up stranglehold on media market

News in the week that government was forging ahead with plans to launch a second state television channel while making no effort to license private broadcasters provided more worrying evidence of the authorities’ disdain for the media reforms they agreed to under the Global Political Agreement (GPA).[more]

New York, February 9, 2010—Security agents in Cameroon have detained two journalists since Friday in an apparent effort to learn the source of a purported memo from the chairman of the state oil company about the purchase of a luxury boat, according to local journalists and news reports. [more]

The 3 UN, ACHPR, OAS Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression together with a OSCE representative adopted a declaration on the 10 key threats to Freedom of Expression on the 3rd of February 2010 in Washington.[more]

In this issue: Shifts on the public broadcasters’ management and freedom of expression questioned: by Tumelo Tshabalala [more]

In this issue: Media freedom violations and prospects for reforms in 2010: by Sandrah Mtetwa, Rawlings Magede, Fadzai Gambe and Charles Saki.[more]

While Article 39 of Kenya’s Revised Harmonised Draft Constitution makes giant steps in guaranteeing media freedom, Henry Maina finds it still lacking. Maina explores Article 39’s shortcomings in the areas of licensing, censorship and confidentiality and suggests some fundamental safeguards as solutions.[more]

Reporters Without Borders is outraged by the harsh, two-year jail sentence which a court passed yesterday on Hanevy Ould Dehah, the editor of the website Taqadoumy, at the end of an incomprehensible and arbitrary trial. Dehah, who was not freed in December on completing a six-month sentence of a charge of violating public decency, was convicted this time on charges of violating public decency, inciting revolt and “criminal publication.”[more]

Press freedom is still in danger in Africa despite 20 years of democratisation. Independent journalism continues to be a perilous profession on the continent, both in the peaceful arena as well as in conflict zones. [more]

ARTICLE 19 today releases its analysis of a Draft Law on Access to Information

in Ghana, and recommends several amendments to bring the Law in line with

international standards. [more]

It is a universal truism that governments and the media are like poles, which always repel whenever attempts are made to link them. In every country or state, media freedom is measured against the state or government controls and the journalist’s utopia might be where government simply does not exist. This is not only impractical, but unwise.[more]

In Uganda, a ruling this week in a landmark case of two journalists seeking to compel their government’s disclosure of multinationals oil deals highlighted the challenges to public transparency just before media leaders, press freedom advocates, officials, and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter gather in Ghana next week at the African Regional Conference on the Right of Access to Information.[more]

An opinion column in Uganda’s leading independent newspaper suggesting parallels between President Yoweri Museveni and former Philippine leader Ferdinand Marcos led to criminal libel charges against two journalists today, according to local media reports.[more]

MMPZ views with grave concern the recent escalation of offensive and inflammatory language in the state-owned media against perceived ZANU PF opponents, particularly the MDC component of government led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, in flagrant violation of Article 19(e) of the Global Political Agreement (GPA).[more]

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned today the continued harassment and intimidation of the reporters of the Plateau Radio and Television Corporation (PRTVC) by soldiers in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria. [more]

The Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), African Regional Organization of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), is concerned about the frequency of violations on press freedom and the deplorable tendency of political actors to take journalists and the media as scapegoats to solve their f political problems. [more]

Lawyers representing e.tv will make representations to the National Director of Public Prosecutions Menzi Simelani on 4 February 2010 regarding subpoenas served on two of its journalists. e.tv was expected to make representations on 28 January 2010 but requested extension to strengthen their representations to the director. Simelani is looking at the request considering whether to grant them the extension.[more]

The Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, has promised to pass freedom of information legislation in 2010 that will grant citizens access to information held by public bodies. [more]

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today issued its report on journalists and media workers who died in the exercise of journalism in 2009.[more]

An Accra High Court on January 28, 2010 dismissed a four year-old defamation suit brought against “Akosua”, a cartoonist of the privately-owned Accra-based Daily Guide newspaper.[more]

An Ethiopian judge sentenced a journalist to prison on Friday in connection with a January 2008 column that criticized Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s statements about religious affairs in Ethiopia, according to local journalists.[more]

On 31 January 2010, the Intellectual Property Unit Specialist, Kingsley Nkonde, has warned community radio and television stations in the country to desist from broadcasting movies and music videos without owners' rights, the Zambia News and Information Service (ZANIS) [more]

The National Broadcasting Board (NBB) announced on January 26, 2010 the issuance of another public broadcasting license, and this time to RB2. This follows 5 years of Radio Botswana (RB1) being awarded the same license in December 2005. The two stations had since their inception been operating without licenses.[more]