Twenty years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom

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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 Media in Africa - 2011 | 127
and in relation to solidarity. The o<strong>the</strong>r challenge is organising <strong>the</strong> unorganised journalists into unions. Media bosses are adopting widespread union-avoidance and union-busting strategies. These activities are designed to remove union influence from newsrooms. Some media employers have adopted sophisticated tactics such as employing direct contract systems with employees, declaring journalists to be in management, categorising journalists as essential workers or using individual pay agreements, and intimidating journalists who venture into union activities. The tactics also include dismissing and harassing union leaders and organisers, and a range of sophisticated human resources management techniques to suppress <strong>the</strong> desire for unionisation. In addition, media employers in some cases have also engaged in counter-organising by setting up company unions, thus organising journalists <strong>the</strong> basis of <strong>the</strong>ir media houses. Some have encouraged more conservative unions to cover <strong>the</strong>ir media houses to prevent a militant union gaining a foothold. “The <strong>Windhoek</strong> <strong>Declaration</strong> is <strong>the</strong> most important instrument that guides <strong>the</strong> African media.” The Federation of African Journalists (FAJ) and its parental organisation, <strong>the</strong> International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) are making efforts to organise journalists. This is by equipping affiliated journalists unions with <strong>the</strong> basic union tools that could help <strong>the</strong>m to defend <strong>the</strong>ir members’ rights and working 128 | Media in Africa - 2011 conditions and, at <strong>the</strong> same time, increase <strong>the</strong>ir income-generating possibilities. “The journalist unions in Africa are undergoing very challenging times since declining membership has resulted in a reduced bargaining power and scope.” FAJ recognises that organising freelance and young journalists is critical if <strong>the</strong> journalist union movement is to have a wide membership base and if it is to retain <strong>the</strong> capacity and <strong>the</strong> mandate to protect all working journalists. Regardless of <strong>the</strong> disheartening challenges, journalists unions and associations affiliated with <strong>the</strong> FAJ and <strong>the</strong> IFJ are also making efforts to deliver tangible benefits and increased protection to journalists by organising <strong>the</strong> unorganised journalists. The unions are currently reviewing <strong>the</strong>ir own priorities, internal structures and resource allocation to determine how best to overcome <strong>the</strong> challenges.
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MEDIA IN AFRICA Twenty</str
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This work is licensed under <strong
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A small publisher gets technology t
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Foreword By Janis Karklins Janis Ka
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This is MISA By Kaitira Kandjii Kai
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overview overvie Overview
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What then have bee
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and the results we
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critical to journalism as well as t
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matters. Some people could, for ins
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two publications for six months on
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4.2.2 Criminal defamation A major o
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as they made point
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Journalists at work, interviewing S
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5.4 Tabloid success One area where
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Journalists is that its strength re
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proposed codes not only for African
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Studies; African Communication Rese
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Overview Correlating this picture i
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that nourish journalism are not end
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watchdogs. A profile of Ugandan jou
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FREEDOM Freedom
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independent Namibia, set th
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Sierra Leone 39. Mr. Paul Kamara, E
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media that was independent of gover
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The February working session includ
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Media making for socio-political de
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timate the importa
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in corruption. The international co
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African journalists need protection
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Tribute to a committed photojournal
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Section 1: Freedom Anton Hammerl, a
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African media should inspire unders
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information and the</strong
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majority of the ca
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party of President Robert Mugabe to
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The real reasons for the</s
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Thus, the self-reg
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Page 100 and 101: How we started The Observer By Jame
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Page 106 and 107: to adopt applications beyond basic
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This was how stories such as <stron
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individual countries and former col
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the obstacles our
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Journalism to give Africans health
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How African media, and journalism s
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windho Windhoek <s
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establishment of news media outlets
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Twenty years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom

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