Media freedom - the battle continues - 12 Mar 2012
By Evan-Lee Courie [[@evan1985]]
Media freedom in some parts of Africa is still an ongoing battle. In Malawi, information and civic education minister, Patricia Kaliati is reported to have verbally assaulted journalist, Gregory Gondwe, following an article in which Gondwe reports on the annual assessment of the presidential cabinet. Kaliati is said to have accused Gondwe of having a personal vendetta against her.
MISA-Malawi in response, issued an alert to media practitioners showing its concern. In the statement, MISA encouraged journalists to continue engaging in matters of journalism and media, iterating their support of innovation and enhancement of media products for the better.
Since then, president of Malawi, Bingu wa Mutharika, through his state house press officer, issued a warning to media and non-governmental organisations that they risk being arrested for continuously insulting his governance style. Mutharika has accused members of the media of being offered money by the opposition to deliberately distort information, insult him and to cause panic in the country.
MISA-Malawi again reacted, saying that they are disturbed by the statement. Chairman of MISA-Malawi said that the issues raised in the statement do not in any way warrant such a strong warning of arrest, but Mutharika claims that he is protected by the law of the land. However, acting regional director for MISA, Zoé Titus observes that the law is archaic and serves more to provide evidence for the need for critical reform than anything else.
So just from this past week, you can see that the issue of media freedom and freedom of expression in Malawi has been a topic under the spotlight.
In other news this week, Kenyans are not happy with CNN for issuing negative media reports on its country, following a grenade explosion in Nairobi over the weekend. CNN immediately broadcasted a report about the blast with a headline titled "Violence in Kenya." Many Kenyans took to Twitter to express their anger on the way their country has been portrayed. Many seem to ask the question, "When will African stories only be told by Africans?"
It appears to have been a bit of a rough week in parts of the continent, but hopefully it's only a matter of time before the battle comes to an end.
Have a good week!
Evan-Lee Courie @evan1985
