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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However, not all journalists echoed<br />
such sentiments. A business journalist<br />
from <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Accra Daily Mail<br />
commented that “every African has<br />
a duty to promote Nepad”. He c<strong>on</strong>tinued:<br />
“So it is right to say that it<br />
is <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> role and resp<strong>on</strong>sibility of journalists<br />
in Africa to promote a c<strong>on</strong>cept<br />
designed by African leaders. If<br />
we as journalists in Africa d<strong>on</strong>’t publicise<br />
Nepad, we can’t expect European<br />
journalists to do it for us.” He<br />
took <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> issue into a fur<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r realm<br />
by asserting that this was not about<br />
supporting Nepad simply because<br />
<strong>on</strong>e was an African and a journalist,<br />
but ra<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r it was about “patriotism”<br />
and “nati<strong>on</strong>alism”.<br />
That last example in particular is of<br />
a journalist negotiating a complex<br />
c<strong>on</strong>figurati<strong>on</strong> out of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> pull of different<br />
opti<strong>on</strong>s, in seeking to define<br />
who he is in terms of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> broader<br />
role he identifies with (Africanity)<br />
and <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> reas<strong>on</strong>s for this identificati<strong>on</strong><br />
(nati<strong>on</strong>ality). It is his way of<br />
seeking to align himself within a<br />
c<strong>on</strong>text with competing identities<br />
linked to nati<strong>on</strong>ality, professi<strong>on</strong> and<br />
Africanity. Even when <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> outcomes<br />
are different, all African journalists<br />
perform <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>se kinds of negotiati<strong>on</strong>s<br />
of identity so as to give meaning to<br />
what <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>y do within a specific c<strong>on</strong>text.<br />
Often, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> negotiati<strong>on</strong>s seem to involve<br />
explicit efforts by <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> individuals<br />
c<strong>on</strong>cerned to separate <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>mselves<br />
as neutral-oriented journalists from<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> challenges of development in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
African societies to which <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>y bel<strong>on</strong>g.<br />
This can be read as a strategic<br />
attempt to downplay any suggesti<strong>on</strong><br />
that <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>y lack commitment to <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
dominant neutral-objectivist-watchdog<br />
professi<strong>on</strong>al model of journalism.<br />
Some of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>m come across as<br />
thinking <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>y have to make a clear<br />
choice between neutral journalism,<br />
<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong>e hand, and a commitment<br />
to Africa, <strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> o<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r.<br />
Many still associate “development<br />
140 | Media in Africa - 2011<br />
journalism” with African government<br />
attempts to avoid criticism and curb<br />
media <strong>freedom</strong>s. Accepting <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
attached and developmentist role<br />
could, for adherents of this view,<br />
lead to government interference<br />
and <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> loss of aut<strong>on</strong>omy and<br />
independence.<br />
“Even when <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
outcomes are<br />
different, all African<br />
journalists perform<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>se kinds of<br />
negotiati<strong>on</strong>s of<br />
identity so as to give<br />
meaning to what <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>y<br />
do within a specific<br />
c<strong>on</strong>text.”<br />
But many journalists in Africa<br />
have adopted certain of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> ideals<br />
from <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> neutral-objectivist model<br />
of Western journalism, often<br />
adapted to <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ir domestic c<strong>on</strong>text.<br />
In this way, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>y see professi<strong>on</strong>al<br />
independence and <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> role of being<br />
neutral informati<strong>on</strong> disseminators<br />
as amounting to <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> most<br />
re-sp<strong>on</strong>sible resp<strong>on</strong>se to social and<br />
political challenges at nati<strong>on</strong>al and<br />
c<strong>on</strong>tinent-wide levels.<br />
REFERENCES:<br />
Kanyegirire A (2007). Journalists’<br />
percepti<strong>on</strong>s of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ir roles and<br />
identities with regard to Nepad.<br />
Rhodes University: School of<br />
Journalism and Media Studies (Phd<br />
Thesis). Retrieved from <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> web:<br />
http://eprints.ru.ac.za/1566/1/<br />
Kanyegirire-TR08-182.pdf <strong>on</strong><br />
27/6/2011.<br />
Nepad (2009). The Vaal C<strong>on</strong>sensus.<br />
Retrieved from <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> web:<br />
http://www.nepad.org/nepad/<br />
k n o w l e d g e / d o c / 1 8 3 3 / v a a l -<br />
c<strong>on</strong>sensus-partnering-mediaafrica%E2%80%99s-development<br />
<strong>on</strong> 28/6/2011.<br />
Nepad (2011). The Maseru <str<strong>on</strong>g>Declarati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g>:<br />
in support of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> African media<br />
for development. Retrieved from<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> web: http://www.nepad.org/fr/<br />
nepad/news/2314/maseru-declarati<strong>on</strong><br />
<strong>on</strong> 28/6/2011.