Karl Marx famously said the first time history repeats itself is tragic; the second is farce. He wasn’t exactly referring to broadcast licensing in South Africa, but his aphorism may apply. This issue of who owns broadcasting is important for industry growth, for transformation and for democratic pluralism. But South Africa is in danger of missing the boat of legal reforms that balance these three issues. Way back in 1993, the Independent Broadcast Authority Act set down limits on who may own radio and TV stations. We still have them today: - No station can have more than 20% of its shares in foreign hands. - Concentration of radio ownership is limited to no more than four stations, and only two operating in a single broadcast area. - No company can control radio and television licences if it also controls a newspaper with 20 percent or more of its circulation in the broadcast area. [more]

A worldwide movement to promote people’s rights of access to information came to Africa this week. A centre set up by former US president Jimmy Carter (see http://www.cartercenter.org/accesstoinformation.html) convened a big-guns conference in Ghana to advance the cause across the continent. You might think: “Enough already”. There’s already too much information out there. You’re buckling under the pressures of email, the World Wide Web, Facebook, Twitter, satellite TV bouquets, etc. But “overload” is relative. Lots of people are still outside the information loop. And even in South Africa we still have authoritarian and corrupt officials who rely on information scarcity to resist accountability. Meanwhile, there are probably some facts that you personally would really like to know about...[more]

President Jacob Zuma’s believe in polygamy has become the subject of a heated debate in the South African media. Zuma, who is married to three wives and father of so far 19 marital children and now one extramarital, regularly hits the headlines with his sexual affairs. Journalists, opposition parties and women rights groups accuse the political leader of being a bad role model for the country and argue that his behaviour contradicts his government’s HIV-Campaign, which advocates the use of condoms and faithfulness to one partner . Zuma and his supporters on the other hand see the criticism as “cultural intolerance” and inacceptable interference in private matters. As reaction to the latest revelations of the president’s fatherhood read Oliver Meth’s thoughts about the impact of the “world’s most famous polygamist” snubbing safe sex on the South African society. [more]

When a church bans a bishop from speaking to the media, you have to wonder what’s next. Blocking the man from addressing his parishioners? In the apartheid days, more than 1600 dissidents were banned from speaking in public to more than one person at any given time. And everyone else was prohibited from quoting individuals thus “listed”. (see http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/people/lives-of-courage/pages/wall/banned/banned_a.html) This time around, it’s not a minority government doing the gagging. It’s the Methodist Church which reportedly suspended Bishop Paul Verryn for allegedly defying its instruction not to talk to the media. However controversial the Bishop and his Central Methodist Church may be, one would have thought that a free South Africa would have been a beacon of free speech – and not least within the church.[more]

This media column is made possible by cooperation of Mail&Guardian and fesmedia Africa. Read Guy Berger's biweekly analysis at www.fesmedia.org. This isn’t a movie for rugby nuts. All you need is soft spot for letting a classic narrative lead you through an epic and emotional journey. Invictus is the screen version, simplified and embellished accordingly, of how Nelson Mandela cannily co-opted a symbol of apartheid. It’s a reminder about how he successfully converted Springbok rugby into a personal and national triumph. [more]

Yoweri Museveni used to be the darling of the West. After 23 years in power the Ugandan president still cuts a good figure at international summits. Only recently the US-Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice praised the Ugandan military’s peacekeeping deployment in Somalia. Western complaints about Museveni’s arbitrary rule and corruption inside his regime is only whispered behind closed doors. Yet after having changed the 1995 constitution and lifting the Presidential term limits there is mounting criticism from Ugandan journalists and human rights activists of Museweni’s attempts at clinging to power which is challenged from within his ruling coalition. Read Evelyn Matsamura Kiapi’s article for the International Press Service (IPS) on how President Museweni’s questionable preparation for the election in 2011 is “colliding with the Fourth Estate”. [more]

"Reporters Without Borders" launched its annual Press Freedom Index, which measures the state of media freedom in 169 countries worldwide. By using a methodology that focuses mainly on press freedom violations, the more structural limits of media freedom are not taken into account. Yet, despite defining and describing freedom of expression and freedom of media rather superficially, these results and rankings of the Press Freedom Index are often cited by international organisations and human rights groups. For a comprehensive assessment of the media landscape in 26 African countries read more about our own African Media Barometer and the country reports. Below you find the overview about the ranking of some African Countries from the Press Freedom Index of "Reporters Without Borders" . To be seen in context and read with caution.[more]

Ruanda was ranked 183 out of 195 countries in press freedom in 2008. Human Rights organisations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch criticise the Ruandan Government for imposing harsh and arbitrary justice. Despite this the government of Paul Kagame has been a donor’s darling for years. Guilt tripped over its shameful role in the genocide against the Tutsi in 1994 western governments have largely refrained from challenging the actions of the Tutsi government in Kigali. A spade of new books take a fresh look at the more complex picture of the genocide and the Ruanda’s role in neighbouring Congo. Read “Kagame’s Hidden War in Congo” by Howard French in the September 24 issue of the New York Review of Books.[more]