…Calls for journalists’ participation in lawmaking.
by Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna
Many areas of journalism have been reportedly criminalized in Africa, particularly in countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania, amongst others.
This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the fifth Bagauda Kaltho Media Memorial Lecture series held on Tuscany through zoom.
Organized by Africa Media Development Foundation (AMDF), the memorial lectures were meant to immortalize James Baguada Kaltho, a Nigerian investigative journalist, who miraculously disappeared between late 1996 and early 1997 inline of duties.
The “continental lecture” was attended with participants who cut across Nigeria and other African countries, including Ghana and Sierra Leone.
AMDF, a media development organization that supports media and sustainable development initiatives, had consistently marked the day with the aim to promote the interest and course of journalists and journalism in Nigeria and Africa.
The theme of the lecture for the 2023, tagged, ‘Press Freedom Laws and Policies in Africa: Upholding or Undermining Journalism Practice,’ was anchored by the Faculty Head, Kaduna Media Academy, Kaduna Northwest Nigeria, Ahmed Balarabe Sa’id.
In the communiqué signed by Sola Ojo of The Sun Newspaper Nigeria, Thibilisse Nkurunziza of Shikiriza Newspaper Burundi, and Boi Beatrice Kenneh of Freetown Media Centre Sierra Leone, noted with dismay, the adoption of cybercrime laws, which have been employed by State actors, to silence critical journalists and content producers.
It further stated that the three discussants at the lectures were journalists drawn from Nigeria, Burundi and Somalia, respectively.
“In Africa, many areas of journalism have been criminalised in countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania, with the adoption of cybercrime laws, which have been employed by State actors to silence critical journalists and content producers.
“Several of these countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, and Nigeria have nearly doubled their laws on misinformation since 2016. Killers of journalists in countries like Somalia, Burundi, DR Congo and Nigeria are rarely brought to book.
“Journalists, especially investigative ones in Burundi, work in fear to avoid either being harassed, attacked, or jailed. As a result, Burundi has been trying to rearrange the way the media works.
“Press Freedom is a pillar of any democratic society because it shapes public opinion, thereby empowering them. It also helps put leaders in check.
“There are a lot of ambiguities in the press regulation laws (Nigerian Press Council and National Broadcasting Commission) in Nigeria, leading to the interpretation of the same laws differently.
“Attacks on journalists and media organisations in Nigeria are on the increase by ways of victimisation, gadget seizure and destruction, especially during elections. The safety and security of journalists are very important not only in Nigeria but across the globe,” it stated.
Participants, according to the communiqué, resolved that “From the foregoing, there is a need for dedicated laws that will protect journalists and make them perform their constitutionally-provided responsibility; provision of a Safe Space for journalists to access help, legal or professional support. Journalists’ capacity should be built around the issues they report.
“There is a need to strike a balance between press freedom, press regulation, and responsible press journalism, if journalism should fulfill its responsibility of protecting the national interest.
“A free and responsible press is possible, if self-regulation is strengthened. Need to develop and enforce a code of ethics and legal reforms that will address the ambiguity of laws.
“In the face of citizen journalism, media literacy should be promoted to help citizens evaluate their thoughts, ideas, knowledge, etc., before going public.
“Journalists must work in synergy to form a formidable force in such a way that their tormentors would think about the consequences of their actions, if they attempt to harass a journalist or weaponising related laws against journalists.
“There is a need for an international platform that will make lawyers available for journalists and media organisations that are being, or may be, persecuted unlawfully.
“Journalists, who understand press freedom, who could help in doing their work better, should participate in lawmaking either by becoming lawmakers or through lobbying, to review some of the existing laws being used against journalists,” it added.