Twenty years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom
Twenty years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom
Twenty years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom
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What <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>n have been <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> prospects<br />
for coming closer to <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Windhoek</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Declarati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g>’s ideal of untarnished<br />
journalism in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> past 20 <str<strong>on</strong>g>years</str<strong>on</strong>g>? The<br />
answer to this involves pinpointing<br />
what <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> limits have been, and what<br />
kinds of journalism have developed<br />
in relati<strong>on</strong> to <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>m. Two vantage<br />
points can be taken <strong>on</strong> this matter.<br />
On <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong>e hand, for observers like<br />
Francis Nyamnjoh writing in 2005,<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>re has been no real improvement<br />
in most of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> c<strong>on</strong>tinent. In his<br />
view, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> “mediascape in Africa in<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> age of intensified globalizati<strong>on</strong><br />
speaks more of c<strong>on</strong>tinuity than<br />
change and more of exclusi<strong>on</strong> than<br />
inclusi<strong>on</strong>”. 1 In a similar vein, analyst<br />
CW Ogb<strong>on</strong>dah wrote in 2002: “There<br />
is as much c<strong>on</strong>tinuity as <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>re is<br />
change in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> current political<br />
situati<strong>on</strong> in Africa.” 2 From such<br />
perspectives, instead of positive<br />
change building incrementally over<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>years</str<strong>on</strong>g>, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>re has been a c<strong>on</strong>tinuity<br />
of journalism being corrupted by<br />
state c<strong>on</strong>trols, business imperatives<br />
and <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> weaknesses of practiti<strong>on</strong>ers<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>mselves. In additi<strong>on</strong>, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>re is<br />
still <strong>on</strong>going self-censorship as well<br />
as sensati<strong>on</strong>alised presentati<strong>on</strong>s of<br />
reality, and <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>re is also journalism<br />
that has inflamed violent c<strong>on</strong>flict.<br />
different, less fatalistic and<br />
A more optimistic view, points<br />
to unprecedented pluralism over<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> period, even if <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>re is not<br />
a utopia of diversity and quality<br />
of journalism. It highlights <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
journalism heroes and heroines who<br />
have exposed social ills without fear<br />
or favour, and it recognises media<br />
that promoted peaceful resoluti<strong>on</strong>s<br />
of c<strong>on</strong>flict. In this camp, writers<br />
like Charles C Okigbo and Festus<br />
Eribo wrote in 2004: “On <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> whole,<br />
most people in Africa were better<br />
off in 2001 than a decade earlier –<br />
albeit modestly – and most of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>m<br />
enjoyed <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> benefits of a freer –<br />
albeit not necessarily free – <strong>press</strong>.” 3<br />
In <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> analysis provided later in this<br />
report, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> trends over <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> whole<br />
two decades since <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Windhoek</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Declarati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g> tend to c<strong>on</strong>firm this<br />
assessment, even though <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
immediate past decade has not<br />
sustained <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> initial progress.<br />
Overall, despite <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> fact is that <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
glass may still be seen as half-full<br />
or half-empty, it certainly c<strong>on</strong>tains<br />
a lot more liquid than was <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
case before 1991. Of course a mere<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Declarati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g> cannot be held to have<br />
been <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> primary cause of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>se<br />
partial improvements. And yet it<br />
would also be a grave distorti<strong>on</strong><br />
if a media history ignored <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
c<strong>on</strong>tributi<strong>on</strong> that <str<strong>on</strong>g>Windhoek</str<strong>on</strong>g> did<br />
make. This achievement was, in<br />
effect, to set standards for <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
Overview<br />
optimum c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s of African<br />
journalism, and to help change<br />
realities so as to move more in line<br />
with <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>se standards.<br />
Looking ahead with <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> inspirati<strong>on</strong> of<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Windhoek</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Declarati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g>, over <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
next 20 <str<strong>on</strong>g>years</str<strong>on</strong>g> mass communicati<strong>on</strong>s<br />
capacity will spread rapidly bey<strong>on</strong>d<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> instituti<strong>on</strong>s of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> mass media.<br />
As discussed in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> c<strong>on</strong>clusi<strong>on</strong><br />
of this review, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> vista is <strong>on</strong>e of<br />
greater choice for media c<strong>on</strong>sumers<br />
and greater participati<strong>on</strong> by n<strong>on</strong>media<br />
people and instituti<strong>on</strong>s who<br />
believe <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>y have stories to tell<br />
and points to make in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> public<br />
arena. Pressures will grow for more<br />
transparency in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> state, business<br />
and <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> mass media itself. In this<br />
Media in Africa - 2011 | 13