Tuesday 15 May 2012

Sierra Leone's shambolic media [opinion] by Kemo Cham

 

Sierra Leone's Independent Media Commission (IMC) is under pressure to act tough against the increasingly compromised media in the country. While media advocates across the world lament the situation journalists face in the hands of powerful ‘predators’, in Sierra Leone the journalists seem to be the predators. The country boasts of one of the freest press in Africa, but a closer look reveals a complicated reality. The media is divided along political and regional-tribal lines. And the battle between the divergent interests gets worse by the day.

 

Many blame the situation on the supposed ‘freedom’ the press enjoys. But the factors are numerous, and they are so entrenched that it worries the leadership of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ), which is also under mounting pressure to act against its members.“The fragility of our country’s politics is worrisome. The reckless practice by some of our journalists is dreadful,” lamented SLAJ president Umaru Fofana during his World Press Freedom Day message on May 3.[more]

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fesmedia Africa is the media project of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) in Africa. We are working towards a political, legal and regulatory framework for the media which follows international human rights law, the relevant protocols of the African Union (AU) and declarations of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) or other regional standards in Africa. Our office is based in Windhoek, Namibia. Read more about us

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Africa has traditionally been at the centre of the international activities of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. In 19 Sub-Saharan African countries, FES is supporting the process of self-determination, democratisation and social development, in cooperation with partners in politics and society.

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The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung is a non-governmental and non-profit making Political Foundation based in almost 90 countries throughout the world. Established in 1925, it carries the name of Germany’s first democratically elected president, Friedrich Ebert, and, continuing his legacy, promotes freedom, solidarity and social democracy.

 

Tuesday 15 May 2012

Angola: Court Ignores Media Law by Rafael Marques de Morais

 

The trial of journalist Ramiro Aleixo began on 11 May, 2012, at the Luanda Provincial Court, in Angola. Aleixo stands accused of the crimes of defamation, slander and injury against the military justice system, namely its Supreme Court and office of the military attorney. In September 2007, the defendant wrote two articles in the now defunct weekly newspaper Kesongo, about the trial and conviction of the former director of the Angolan Intelligence Services, general Fernando Garcia Miala, exposing the judicial process as a farce. Initially, it was publicly revealed that there was an investigation of general Miala for an attempted coup.

To the journalist’s surprise, and to the surprise of the Angolan public at large, the general ended up in court accused of insubordination, for refusing to attend a public ceremony in which he was to be demoted from the rank of three-star general to lieutenant-general. He was convicted to four years in jail, while three of his closest aides were sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail.

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WORST PRACTICES

Tuesday 03 April 2012

Lessons learned from the KONY 2012 campaign

Love it or hate it, the online phenomenon that is KONY 2012 offers valuable lessons to development communicators.

Never has a video – and certainly not one created by an NGO – generated such heated and conflicting responses, or achieved such global reach. Fast approaching the 100-million-viewer mark, in the week since the campaign’s launch, coverage of “KONY 2012” has infiltrated every major news outlet and online forum, and ignited a storm of commentary among Facebookers and Tweeters of all ages.

However, there is a side to this public debate that has been relatively under-explored: and that is the lessons for media and communications professionals, and specifically those of us working in the development sector.[more]

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