Download - Media Institute of Southern Africa

State of the media in Southern Africa 2002
society, with organised crime figures being protected by individuals linked to
political circles, attorneys’ offices, judges and state departments. One must
highlight the judge’s position on freedom of information, a position that should
now be part of textbooks. The judge stated before a full house that he was not
opposed to the trial being broadcast live, but that being broadcast live or not
was the sole responsibility of the media. In this way, the judge acknowledged
their complete responsibility.
Freedom of information means, first and foremost, to be able to inform without
interference from political of economic power. But to enjoy freedom of
information it is important that the journalist be informed, which is not easy
in our situation because of a lack of material resources. In Mozambique – as
in other places – freedom of information has to face phenomenal restrictions,
precisely because media managers do not invest in the nuts and bolts of journalism.
Our media are poor, they live from hand to mouth, apart from the state media,
such as Rádio Moçambique and Televisão de Moçambique.
As far as the printed media is concerned, although the Press Law does not
pose major restrictions (anybody, legally speaking, can set up a newspaper)
there are no public sustainability mechanisms made available by the state. I
am referring specifically to subsidies on newsprint and other cost components
of lesser importance. Paper is one of the costliest items in the budget.
The press is seen by the law as if it were any other industry, which, from the
outset hampers quantity and quality. Perhaps this is the reason why in a country
of 17 million people – taking into account the substantial number of illiterate
people – daily readers do not exceed an average of two hundred thousand.
In a way, this situation is mitigated by radio stations and TVM, which
can be picked up in practically the entire country. However, it should be pointed
out that TVM broadcasts only in Portuguese, while the vast majority of the
people do not speak it. To its credit, one must mention the effort by TVM to
broadcast live – with abundant commentary – the Carlos Cardoso murder
trial, without any concern for the fact that one of the individuals mentioned
was the son of the president.
2002
The issue of access to information is one of the critical points of our system.
Although the Press Law makes provision for the compulsory release of information
by state organs, public officials have so far not internalised this culture.
Nonetheless, we do have a number of public officials who have begun to
understand the importance of keeping the public informed and maintaining
contact with those journalists that seek them out, even if they wish to remain
anonymous. This behaviour depends also on the journalists, who, in our country,
have been raised in a paternalistic culture. Access to information, to sources,
fails in journalism of an investigative nature, because of the lack of resources
74 So This Is Democracy?