Guy Berger (ed). MEDIA IN AFRICA: Twenty years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom. Media Institute of Southern Africa, 2011, 190 pages.
I am thrilled to be a contributor to one of the most comprehensive publications in the last decade on the state of the media in Africa, which was launched yesterday in Cape Town at the start of the Pan African Conference on Access to Information and the Highway Africa 15th conference.
What has been the state-of-play for African media in the 20 years since the historic Windhoek Declaration of 1991 which gave rise to World Press Freedom Day every 3 May? And what can be expected over the next decade? More than 70 commentators illuminate the trajectory in a range of contributions in this book - covering the issues of media freedom, pluralism, independence and access to information.
Journalists’ safety, gendersensitive reporting, and the role of the Internet are amongst the topics covered. In a nutshell, progress has been made since 1991, but much remains to be achieved. There’s a grave danger that the momentum of media freedom is slowing and even reversing in many countries. Meanwhile, the rise of new communications technologies puts pressure on African journalists to live up to their ideals more than ever.
Book Launch Report (Originally published in Open Source)
Yesterday saw the launch of the book Media in Africa: twenty years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom at the Naspers centre, attended by notable figures such as Die Burger editor Bun Booyens and The Namibian editor Gwen Lister.
Professor Guy Burger, the Director-designate for Freedom of Expression and Access to Information at UNESCO, opened the event which celebrated media freedom and what he referred to as “two steps forward and one step back”. He ended with an optimistic affirmation: “We hope we are going to keep walking forward”.
The book is a collection of writings by over 70 media scholars and practitioners. Some of the contributors present included Omar Osman, President of the Federation of African Journalists and Professor Jane Duncan, Highway Africa Chair of Media and Information Society at the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University. The book covers a broad range of topics, from theoretical and ethical issues to the practical concerns around practicing journalism in Africa. These themes are explored within the context of the (past and present) threats and restrictions faced by the African press.
At the launch, Media24 CEO Esmaré Weideman gave an enthused account of ‘Bok Friday’ (where South African fans wear their green and gold T-shirts in support of their national team in the Rugby World Cup), before delving into the successes of media freedom on the continent. One of these successes is that Naspers ranks as the 10th largest media enterprise in the world. Alain Modoux, former Director-General of UNESCO for freedom of expression, also emphasized the need to sustain media freedom throughout Africa. Modoux was a key player in bringing the Windhoek Declaration to the attention of the United Nations, and the implementation of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May.
The Namibian editor Gwen Lister closed the event by making a toast to press freedom, in the hope that it would continue to spread throughout the continent. Lister survived a 10-year advertising ban on her newspaper by the Namibian government, which opposed its critical reportage of the incumbent leadership.
By raising their glasses “to the book and to Africa Media Freedom”, the launch opened a new chapter in acknowledging both the struggles and the victories of the past,as well as the challenges still to come.
This is what is happening 17-19 September in Cape Town:
- Pan African Conference on Access to Information (220 information stakeholders including media NGOs, MPs, ministers and civil servants);
- Highway Africa 15thconference (more than 500 journalists from across Africa);
- Digital Citizens Indaba (100 bloggers from across Africa);
- Editors Forum meetings – SANEF, and The African Editors Forum;
- Three workshops for African journalism educators.
- The African Forum for Media Development.
Update
An online version is now available online: Click here to read or download it.
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