[fajg] :: jóvenes Geógrafos :: young Geopraphers

Journalists, Authority and Prison May 17, 2004
By Mandisi Majavu

ZNet Commentary

In most African countries the relationship between journalists and the
government is established and sustained by a threat of violence and
prison. In fact freedom of the press is not an idea that appeals to many
African leaders.

In its second world press freedom ranking (1), the international media
watchdog NGO, Reporters Without Borders (RWB), show countries of the
central African region ranking from medium to poor.

RWB said (2) that the ranking reflects the situation between 1
September 2002 and 1 September 2003, and that of the 166 nations surveyed, the
Republic of Congo was ranked 63rd, followed closely by Tanzania in 70th
position. Further down the list, Burundi ranked 92nd, while the Central
African Republic placed 107th and Rwanda placed 112th.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) found itself among the 50
countries that respect press freedom the least, scoring 127th on the RWB
ranking Â– a ranking, I think, that does not come close to revealing
how bad things are for journalists in that country, but gives a clue
nonetheless. After all, this is the country where journalists are taken to
prison for covering police operations.

In March, the UN news agency IRIN, reported that police attacked and
detained three reporters from a private television station,
Radio-Television Kin Malebo, apparently in reprisal for covering a police operation
(3). The journalists, Robert Kadima Baruani, Milla Dipenga and Eric
Ambago were attempting to record scenes of police removing residents from
a building whose ownership was in dispute, IRIN reported. Before being
detained, the journalists were manhandled and their equipment
confiscated.

In another incident in the same month, the publications director
Jean-Denis Lompoto of the twice-weekly satirical newspaper Pili-Pili, was
imprisoned after the newspaper published a corruption allegation story
concerning Mines Minister Eugene Diomi Ndongala. The arrest warrant
charged Lompoto, editor Prosper Dawe, and reporter Angwalima with defaming
the Mines Minister (4).

In a protest letter addressed to the Congolese President Joseph Kabila,
the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), said (5) the
CPJ is Â“deeply concerned about the imprisonment of Jean-Denis
LompotoÂ… after the paper [Pili-Pili] accused one of your ministers of
corruption. We are also disturbed about the recent police attack on three
television journalists covering police activity in the Democratic Republic
of CongoÂ’s capital, Kinshasa.Â”

The committee went further to assert: Â“Police attacks on journalists
who are covering issues of legitimate public concern have sadly become
routine in the DRC. This harassment often goes unpunished. We call on
Your Excellency to do everything within your power to ensure that the
rule of law is respected, and that journalists can cover the news freely,
without fear of reprisal.Â”

Other African countries that are among the 50 countries that respect
press freedom the least are Cote dÂ’Ivoire (137th), Liberia (132nd) and
Guinea-Bissau (118th). Reporters Without Borders said Â“Local and
foreign journalists were exposed to the violence of the warring parties in
Cote dÂ’Ivoire and Liberia, while the military closed down news media in
Guinea-Bissau.Â”

Cote dÂ’Ivoire is not ranked 137th for no reason. You will remember
that this is where Jean Helene, the Cote dÂ’Ivoire correspondent of Radio
France Internationale, was shot in the head at point blank range while
he was waiting outside the main police station in Abidjan to interview
a group of detained opposition activists who were about to be released.

Whenever the authorities think their message (i.e. Â“ignorance is
strengthÂ”) is falling on deaf ears, it becomes a matter of life and death
for journalists. Last month, mid-April, in Gambia (West Africa), the
printing press of GambiaÂ’s most outspoken newspaper, The Independent, was
burned down (6).

This was the second time the IndependentÂ’s printing press was set
alight Â– the first time was last year, October 2003. Of course the police
promised a full investigation Â– however six months later not a single
person has been charged in connection with the attack. What has come to
pass, is that independent journalists are barred from covering news
events at state house. Only state media controls all news concerning the
president (7).

If violence brings unwarranted world attention and scares away
investors and tourists, new media laws are introduced; government
communications departments, usually with wide powers, become censoring departments.

Last September 2003, in Niger, the NigerÂ’s Higher Council for
Communications withdrew the broadcasting licenses of 15 private radio stations,
saying their owners had failed to comply with NigerÂ’s laws (8).

In Eritrea Â– AfricaÂ’s foremost jailer of journalists since September
2001, when the government banned the entire private press and detained
independent journalists. Seventeen journalists are now in secret jails
across Eritrea, and no formal charges have been brought, and the
government has given no indication that it intends to prosecute the
journalists, according to the CPJ (9).

Meanwhile, in Zimbabwe, the Supreme Court upheld, in February,
legislation requiring journalists and media outlets to be licensed by the
stateÂ’s Media and Information Commission, making it a criminal act,
punishable by two years in prison, to practise journalism without government
approval (10).

Next door to Zimbabwe, in South Africa, things are done a little
differently Â– censorship is not legal, rather, consent is manufactured. The
ideology control is definitely there, and it is done by using the
corporate media.

Just like Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky explain in their book,
Manufacturing Consent, censoring, in a supposedly democratic country like
South Africa, is done through a sophisticated propaganda model. Through
this propaganda model, powerful and rich South Africans who are
benefiting from neo-liberal economics, filter out the news fit to print,
marginalize dissent, and allow the government and dominant private interests
to get their messages across to the public.

South African national newspapers such as the Mail & Guardian, The
Independent and ThisDay, who like to parade as a free and independent press
Â– because once in a while they will attack and expose corporate and
government wrongdoings Â– are a case in point of how this propaganda
model works.

Although no violence is used, the same results are achieved; dissent
will be excluded to the point of being silenced. Writers like Patrick
Bond, who ask questions and challenge power hardly ever have their work
published in the above mentioned newspapers. The point that is being made
Â– whether censoring is done through violence , Information Commissions
or propaganda models Â– is, donÂ’t challenge power and that any idea or
thought that does not fall in line with the agenda of the ruling class
should not be heard.

However, history is clear on one thing, among the excluded, there are
always some who resist saying Â“We will be heard!Â”

References:

UN News Agency, IRIN, 21 October 2003: Reporters Without Borders rates
press freedom in region
Ibid
Ibid
Ibid
http://www.cpj.org IRIN, 16 April 2004, The printing press of GambiaÂ’s
most outspoken newspaper, The Independent, has been burned down.
Ibid IRIN, 30 September 2003, NigerÂ’s Higher Council for
Communications has withdrawn the broadcasting licenses of 15 private radio stations.
ThisDay, Monday May 03 2004, World Press Freedom Day
Ibid