Thursday 09 September 2010

CONVERSE COLUMN: To fix SABC, break it up

 

It’s a re-run: rather than only reporting on South Africa, SABC is itself once again a news story. And for all the wrong reasons. The broadcaster has re-entered the limelight in recent weeks with tales of shenanigans, accusations and counter-accusations, divisions and denials. That’s not to mention suspensions and protests, budgets and spending issues, corporate governance problems and resignations. Plus there’s a couple of assorted legal actions and an attempt to cover up the dirt in a behind-closed-doors meeting in parliament. South Africans should laud the broadcaster’s long-suffering staffers who continue to generate a flow of programming. But the long list of surface problems has a lesson: you can keep changing the people at the top, but if the difficulties don’t go away then the reason has to be deeper. It’s because they are systemic. What’s endemically broken at SABC can be assessed in terms of cultural, political and economic factors.

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fesmedia Africa

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

FES Middle East Department FES ZimbabweFES UgandaFES TanzaniaFES South AfricaFES SenegalFES ZamibiaFES NigeriaFES NamibiaFES MosambiqueFES MaliFES MadagascarFES KenyaFES CameroonFES GhanaFES BotswanaFES BeninFES AngolaFES Ivory CoastFES Ethiopia

FES in Africa

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.

Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung

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.

 

Wednesday 08 September 2010

Global Media: Is the Pen Still Mightier Than the Sword? the Plight And Protection of Journalists

 

Journalists worldwide face grave dangers when they expose societal ills and injustice. Currently, there are 454 journalists in exile and 26 have been killed already this year. The United Nations and other organizations are taking action to protect the rights of journalists whose lives are threatened as their mighty pens battle mighty swords.The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is a New York-based non-profit organization founded in 1982 to promote international press freedom and journalist’s rights. Robert Mahoney, Deputy Director of CPJ, told MediaGlobal , “Most journalists are targeted. They aren’t caught in a cross fire. They’re killed intentionally. It’s a form of censorship which is exercised by powerful people, whether officials or criminal gangs, to silence journalists.” Ensuring the safety of journalists is essential in countries of the global south. Reports by press personnel on the ground are important to democracy and instrumental in rooting out corruption. With their news coverage, attention is drawn to critical areas of societal infrastructure, including economic development and environmental issues that may be overlooked by privately funded media or other governmental organizations.

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WORST PRACTICES

Thursday 02 September 2010

South Africa: Media Freedom Is Your Freedom (Or Is It?)

On Wednesday the 4th of August, Sunday Times reporter Mzilikazi wa Afrika was arrested at the offices of the Sunday Times newspaper, in response to a complaint laid by the Premier of Mpumalanga province, David Mabuza. Many aspects of wa Afrika’s arrest have raised troubling questions about the appropriateness of the state’s actions, and have fuelled speculation that political pressure was brought to bear on the police to act against wa Afrika for his activities as a journalist. Wa Afrika’s account of his arrest is chilling. What concerned him the most was the fact that he was taken to Mpumalanga to appear in court, which led him to fear that he was going to be killed. His fears were well founded, as wa Afrika and Mail and Guardian journalist Lucky Sindane were on a hit list of people targeted for assassination, and two government officials on the list had already been killed. These events have reinforced already-deep concerns about the state of freedom of expression in South Africa. But there are those who are unsurprised by these events. Many small town political activists are all too familiar with the treatment wa Afrika was subjected to. These activists are rich repositories of information about small town repression, and the true state of South Africa’s democracy more generally.[more]

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