Twenty years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom

Section 4: Access to Information
Free African Media: from concept to reality
By Theresa Mallinson
Theresa Mallinson is <strong>the</strong> managing
editor of Free African Media (www.
freeafricanmedia.com). She’s always
hungry for copy, so please feed her.
You can reach Theresa via Twitter on
@tcmallinson.
FreeAfricanMedia.com is a website
launched in February 2011. Dreamt
up by Daily Maverick editor Branko
Brkic, <strong>the</strong> thinking and design
behind <strong>the</strong> website draws heavily
on <strong>the</strong> philosophy and experience
gained by his team over <strong>the</strong> <strong>years</strong>.
Our aim is simple: to provide a
space where every media person
from <strong>the</strong> 55 countries in Africa
(including South Sudan) can have
access to thinkers and reporters
from <strong>the</strong> rest of <strong>the</strong> continent.
Free African Media is a platform
for <strong>the</strong> exchange of ideas and a
place to plan new efforts. A place
where journalists can feel at
home; a place <strong>the</strong>y want to come
back to every day; a place where
none of us feels alone.
In South Africa, we’ve taken media
freedom and freedom of expression
for granted during <strong>the</strong>
last 15 <strong>years</strong>. That is, until <strong>the</strong>
proposed Protection of Information
bill and <strong>the</strong> proposed Media
Appeals Tribunal reared <strong>the</strong>ir repressive
heads. Now we’re fighting
<strong>the</strong>se developments with everything
we’ve got.
But <strong>the</strong> struggle for media freedom
and access to information isn’t
South Africa’s alone. In <strong>the</strong> past,
our country’s media has had a
parochial attitude, neglecting to
cover <strong>the</strong> struggles <strong>the</strong> media face
on <strong>the</strong> rest of <strong>the</strong> continent. Now,
we no longer have <strong>the</strong> luxury of
ignorance. Now, it is time to
wake up, take notice of what’s
happening around us, and learn
from our neighbours’ experiences.
The creation of Free African Media
is <strong>the</strong> Daily Maverick’s response to
this challenge.
Since Free African Media’s inception,
we’ve published more than
100 articles and columns, focusing
on more than 20 countries, written
by more than 40 journalists;
and had more than 20,000 visitors
to <strong>the</strong> website. (And, by <strong>the</strong>
time you read this, those numbers
will be even more impressive.) Our
articles have focused on media
law and regulation in South Africa,
Nigeria and Botswana; <strong>the</strong>
online media space in Ghana and
Zimbabwe; analysis of <strong>the</strong> media’s
role in revolutions and protests in
Egypt and Swaziland; journalists
in danger in Libya and Ethiopia,
and many more besides.
To expose <strong>the</strong> work of our
committed journalists to an even
wider audience, Free African Media
also publishes <strong>the</strong> majority of our
written content under a Creative
Commons Licence. This means
that anyone from anywhere in
Africa, or indeed, anywhere in <strong>the</strong>
whole world, can republish our
articles — online, in print, or even
by reading <strong>the</strong>m out on radio.
Just as Free African Media seeks to
understand <strong>the</strong> challenges facing
media in Africa, and attempt to
come up with creative solutions,
so too must we acknowledge
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