Download - Media Institute of Southern Africa

State of the media in Southern Africa 2002
Notes on classification
The list and definitions of classifications in this year’s So This Is democracy?
- which makes up the bulk of the content of this book - are assigned to specific
categories. Actual alerts issued by MISA are indicated by the “ALERT”
in the top right hand corner of the entry. In all, there are eleven categories:
• Beaten • Legislated
• Bombed • Others
• Censored • Sentenced
• Detained • Threatened
• Expelled • Victory
• Killed
As indicated above, the categories are arranged in alphabetical order. Below
is a description of each category. Each category captures a fairly broad range
of incidents, and more than just the single word it is represented by. Nevertheless,
each category is an accurate summation of incidents that are not too
dissimilar with respect to their nature and the manner in which they affect the
individual media workers and/or the media in general. Except for victory, the
categories make up a list of the various types of violations media workers can
experience during the course of or as a result of their work:
KILLED - This tops the list in terms of severity, and there is no
need to explain why. Included under this category, however, are
incidents where journalists have been kidnapped or gone missing,
and have disappeared. For the purpose of this publication, that
means that any incidents involving the latter will add to the statistics
of this category. The statistic given is for the number of media
workers involved, as opposed to the number of incidents reported.
BEATEN - This includes incidents where journalists are assaulted,
attacked physically, tortured, or wounded during the course of their
work. The statistic given is for the number of media workers involved.
2002
BOMBED - This includes incidents where a home of a journalist
or the office of a media house/outlet/organisation is sabotaged
through bombing, arson, vandalism, theft, or is raided or occupied
forcibly. The statistic given is for the number of media workers
or media organisations involved.
4 So This Is Democracy?