Download - Media Institute of Southern Africa

State of the media in Southern Africa 2002
ing IFEX, Article 19, Amnesty International, Reporters San Frontiers, Human
Rights Watch and the International Federation of Journalists and
◗ Increase public awareness through the press
◗ Publish advisories to warn other journalists about potential dangers
◗ Send a fact-finding mission to investigate
More about MISA alerts
The alert is different to a media statement that the latter is more a reaction and
comment on an incident, while an alert is simply a report about it. Where comment
is included in an alert it is best reported as a quote.
Action alerts also educate people about the nature of media freedom violations,
leading to greater sensitivity to threats and violations, thus ensuring that more
and more violations do not go unreported. MISA alerts are used as a source of
information by media freedom organisations around the world and serve to
augment important international reports and publications which in turn are used
as advocacy tools or research documents.
What types of incidents are reported in an action alert?
1. Direct violations against journalists’ right to operate or report freely - these
include physical or verbal attacks or threats against journalists during the course
of their work or as a result of their work; journalists being barred illegally from
observing events or incidents or inspecting areas, journalists evicted or deported
from a country because of their work, journalists imprisoned or detained and,
journalists killed during the course of or as a result of their work.
2. Censorship - this is where media workers, institutions or activities are banned
or blocked. Where this does happen always indicate who issued the ban, why
and in terms of which laws the ban was issued (sometimes countries have more
than one law which could be used to censor media).
3. Court cases - these are court cases involving the media or concerning issues
which affect the media (e.g. a1995 case in Zimbabwe involving cell phone
company Retrofit did not include the media but significantly advanced freedom
of expression and required to be reported). Alerts are not normally issued for
trials or cases which are in progress (unless something significant happens), the
commencement and conclusion (judgement) are the most important to report (it
requires however that the entire trial be monitored). Background information is
very important in alerts relating to court cases e.g. where a newspaper is being
sued ever an article, find out when the contentious article was published and
give a brief idea of what the article said or reported. This helps to access whether
a trial is reasonable and fair. In the case of a criminal trial, indicate exactly
which law and sections thereof the journalist or media is being charged under.
So This Is Democracy? 323