Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies. Special issue on Press Freedom in Africa
September 5th, 2011
This issue of Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies responds to current debates in South Africa that have caused concern among journalists, journalism scholars and members of civil society in that country and further afield on the continent and internationally.
Two recent developments in South Africa have widely been seen as representing a threat to freedom of expression that at best might lead to a chilling effect on journalism, and at worst reverse the freedoms that have been won since the end of apartheid.
The first of these developments is a proposed Protection of Information Bill that is seen as having the potential to reduce the level of access to information, not only for journalists but also members of the citizenry and civil society generally.
The second development is a proposed statutory Media Appeals Tribunal, suggested by the ruling ANC as an alternative to the current system of press self-regulation which they see as biased towards the media industry. As Jane Duncan points out in her article in this volume, the ANC has been on the attack against the system of self-regulation since its National Congress in 2007. At the National General Council meeting in 2010 the ANC passed a resolution stating that the existing self-regulatory system for the print media was ineffective, and called on Parliament to conduct a public enquiry into a statutory Media Appeals Tribunal.
Since these initial statements, the ANC seems to have softened their stance, allowing the Press Ombudsman to embark on a process of self-reflection and reform by way of a series of public hearings around the country. These hearings were however very poorly attended, drawing only a few representatives from industry and the public at large. At the time of going to print, it was speculated that this poor showing might be taken as an indication of the poor support for the self-regulatory process among the public at large.
Taken together, these developments have been seen as an alarming slide towards a media-intolerant environment in South Africa. Especially the Media Appeals Tribunal has met with strong criticism from journalism practitioners and educators.
In a show of solidarity, 20 South African Journalism Schools, led by Rhodes University, brought out a statement in September 2010, expressing fears about the effect of the proposed regulation on journalism in the country and their potential negative impact on students. The statement (which may be accessed here: http://mzan.si/YPKu) noted that the South African media are not without fault, and that part of journalism scholarship’s role was to continue to point to these shortcomings and suggest ways of improving the media’s democratic role. Such critique, it went on to note, can only bear fruit in an environment that “allows for unhindered investigation, the gathering of sound empirical evidence, and the free exchange of ideas” .
Further support came from international colleagues. Prof Joe Foote, convenor of the World Journalism Education Council, an alliance of 29 organizations that represents journalism educators and trainers worldwide, wrote a letter asking pres Jacob Zuma to reconsider the proposed Protection of Information Bill and the Media Appeals Tribunal (the letter may be accessed at http://mzan.si/AqrC )
In their public statement, the South African Journalism Schools undertook to research alternative ways of managing conflicts between media, state, business and civil society; and to create spaces for debate between the public and members of the media industry about the media’s role in a democratic South Africa;
As a first step towards these goals, the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa, hosted a colloquium on the topic “Media, democracy and transformation since 1994: an assessment”. The colloquium, supported by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung fesmedia Africa programme, and the Open Society Foundation (South Africa), brought together journalism educators, scholars and researchers to make research-based interventions into the heated debates. Politicians, policy-makers and public intellectuals also engaged with the academic papers.
Several of the papers presented at this colloquium were submitted for peer review to ENAJS, and a selection of those submissions are published here. In addition to these selected, reviewed conference papers ENAJS also publishes in this editions articles by authors responding to a call for comparative perspectives on press freedom in Africa.
The result is a varied perspective on the debate about press freedom on the continent, illuminating the South African case from a range of angles. This comparative approach to journalism studies in Africa is central to the ENAJS’ editorial vision and scope.
