Download - Media Institute of Southern Africa

MOZAMBIQUE
State of the media in Southern Africa 2002
and with the poor salaries earned by media professionals thrown into the equation.
In Mozambique, public consensus is that the media that are not owned by the
state are independent. The word “independent” is ambiguous as far as journalists
are concerned, as through the act of producing or publishing a story,
the journalist is vulnerable to bribery or dependence on powerful influences
be they political or financial.
As far as the current journalism is concerned - especially where large audiences
are involved - it is important to note that it is still highly influenced by
state powers on a daily basis. These same ‘state powers’ are also the biggest
producers of events that capture the interest of the average journalist, who
shuns investigative journalism primarily because of a lack of resources.
However, this year saw a number of instances in which journalists – even
those working for the state media – were able to freely inform their readerships
or audiences.
Concerning official bodies established to look after and promote freedom of
information, their actions were not felt in the year 2002 - neither from a negative
nor positive point of view - as was the case with the High Media Council.
The Journalists’ Union was also conspicuous by its absence. Journalists were
not summoned to stand trial for alleged acts of defamation that they were
accused of, even though they frequently practiced confrontational journalism.
The defamation case against journalist Marcelo Mosse – already started in
2001 – and instituted by Nyimpine Chissano, son of the state president, remained
dormant in the courts, because of procedural incidents raised by the
plaintiff’s lawyer.
In conclusion, this overview in general terms should be accompanied by details,
but the space does not allow. We should, however, draw a few conclusions
for the future.
1. At an official level, there is no censorship from a legal point of view. The
legal environment is one of the most liberal that we know. The law that governs
media is truly open, without restrictions, which is not the case in countries
with democracies older than ours. For example, a journalist may not
even be questioned about the source of news.
2. The state treats the media as if it were any other industry. There are no
subsidies for the consumables that the media have to import, as is the case
with newsprint, prohibitively expensive, a cost that strangles a number of
So This Is Democracy? 75