Twenty years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom

Journalist, African or both?
And what about nationality?
By Dr. Andrew Kanyegirire
Dr. Andrew Kanyegirire is <strong>the</strong> officer
in charge for communications at
<strong>the</strong> NEPAD Agency in Midrand,
South Africa. As a journalist, he
has practiced as a deputy Business
Editor at The New Vision in Uganda
and his work has also appeared in
publications in East and Sou<strong>the</strong>rn
Africa and <strong>the</strong> UK.
Journalists in post-colonial Africa,
like all o<strong>the</strong>r social groups, consciously
and unconsciously call
into action <strong>the</strong>ir various identities:
professional, national, gender,
continental. And <strong>the</strong>y dynamically
preserve, defend or enhance diverse
configurations of <strong>the</strong>se identities in
<strong>the</strong>ir interactions with <strong>the</strong> stories
<strong>the</strong>y cover.
Studies on <strong>the</strong> identities of journalists
on <strong>the</strong> continent show <strong>the</strong>y
tend to prioritise <strong>the</strong>ir journalistic
role – with its characteristics and
norms – over and above <strong>the</strong>ir o<strong>the</strong>r
identities, including o<strong>the</strong>r senses
of belonging. It is also a particular
kind of journalistic identity that is
elevated.
Accordingly, many African journalists
largely perceive a role for <strong>the</strong>mselves
to be journalists in Africa, being
information disseminators and
to some extent as socially responsible
reporters who conscientise <strong>the</strong>
public as citizens.
Some journalists do see value
in <strong>the</strong> pan-Africanist calls for
journalists to be attached to <strong>the</strong>
Section 3: Independence
continental cause and condition –
prioritising an African identity that
aims to report in terms of Africa’s
cultural values and with <strong>the</strong> aim of
promoting development. But it is
fair to say that, first and foremost,
most journalists on <strong>the</strong> continent
see primary value in <strong>the</strong> identity
of detached neutral-objectivist
professional model of journalism.
Drawing from my 2007 PhD study,
and from recent Nepad regional
media dialogues with African
journalists, it seems many journalists
who report on continental issues do
not see strong links between <strong>the</strong>ir
sense of professional identity and
o<strong>the</strong>r identities like <strong>the</strong>ir Africanity
and possible identification with <strong>the</strong>
African Union and <strong>the</strong> African Peer
Review Mechanism as home-grown
institutions deserving of support.
“If we as journalists in
Africa don’t publicise
Nepad, we can’t expect
European journalists
to do it for us.”
Consider for instance a journalist
from The East African who was
keen to point out (in my 2007 study)
that, when conflicted, she would
“be as objective as possible”, setting
aside her Africanist attachment and
replacing it with journalistic “professionalism”.
Similarly, a journalist
from Business Day (in South Africa)
felt that while he always tried to
perpetuate an “African consciousness”,
this would not be at <strong>the</strong> cost
of “balance” in his Nepad stories.
Media in Africa - 2011 | 139