Twenty years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom

Challenges of organising
journalists in Africa
By Omar Farouk Osman
Omar Farouk Osman is president of
<strong>the</strong> Federation of African Journalists
(FAJ). He is also secretary general of
<strong>the</strong> National Union of Somali Journalists
(NUSOJ), and an executive member
of <strong>the</strong> International Federation of
Journalists (IFJ).
The <strong>Windhoek</strong> <strong>Declaration</strong> is <strong>the</strong>
most important instrument that
guides <strong>the</strong> African media. Freedom,
pluralism, independence and access
to information are key issues that
will be continually cited, and indeed
<strong>the</strong> continent’s media has gained in
many of <strong>the</strong>se areas, in many African
countries, since <strong>the</strong> declaration was
adopted.
But <strong>the</strong> lifeline of <strong>the</strong> media outfits
are <strong>the</strong> working journalists who
enjoy less freedom, independence
and access to information in
comparison to <strong>the</strong>ir media houses.
One of <strong>the</strong> main reasons is <strong>the</strong>
problem of organising journalists
who are ei<strong>the</strong>r unorganised in a
trade union, or poorly organised
when <strong>the</strong>y are unionised.
The result is that working journalists
in Africa lack <strong>the</strong> freedom to associate
for <strong>the</strong>ir interests and rights. They
lack <strong>the</strong> independence from <strong>the</strong>
State and media employers to play
a visible role in <strong>the</strong> union of <strong>the</strong>ir
choice. They lack <strong>the</strong> independence
to use <strong>the</strong>ir professional conscience
without editorial interference from
Section 3: Independence
<strong>the</strong>ir media chiefs.
Africa’s journalists do not
benefit from a pluralistic media
environment which is competitively
growing economically and earning
good income but paying poorly
<strong>the</strong> employees. In many cases,
journalists also have less access
to information <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong>ir media
bosses who can more easily access
this from governmental offices or
political parties.
Apart from <strong>the</strong>se predicaments,
journalists and <strong>the</strong>ir organisations
have been under attack, and
legal protection has been greatly
undermined. The journalist unions
in Africa are undergoing very
challenging times since declining
membership has resulted in reduced
bargaining power and scope.
The challenge for existing unions
of journalists is retaining <strong>the</strong>
current membership. The underlying
difficulties are <strong>the</strong> lack of service
provided to members, <strong>the</strong> legal
and institutional framework laid
down by <strong>the</strong> governments, poor
organisational structures, weak
internal democracy, and harassment
of union members. There is also
“commercialisation” of trade
unionism by some people who
encourage splinter unions at some
media houses. Some owners fear
strong trade unions and <strong>the</strong>refore
encourage splinter groups. The
proliferation that follows leads to
problems of cooperation and unity.
The politics of creating splinter unions,
at <strong>the</strong> instigation of media
employers/owners and government
agents, has led to many smaller
unions setting up and this has considerably
weakened <strong>the</strong> trade union
movement financially, politically
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