Reflections on Africa Media Convention      

 (Arusha, Tanzania)

Statement by

Churchill Otieno, Chairman,

Eastern Africa Editors Society

at

The 2^nd Africa Media Convention

Date: :11^th May 2023,

Lusaka, Zambia

Protocols

• Prof. Lidia Arthur Brito (Director, UNESCO Region for Southern Africa and Representative to Zimbabwe);
• Wynne Musabayana (Head of Communications, Information and Communication Directorate, AUC)
•  Hon. Chushi Kasanda (Minister of Information and Media, Republic of Zambia)
• Delegates from all over Africa

Good morning Africa!

1. AMCHISTORY

First, some history of what is shaping out as a really good story of the media in Africa, the Africa Media Convention:

• 2020 – EAES holds a virtual convention in collaboration with UNESCO Addis and Open Society

• 2021 – EAES holds a second virtual convention complying with prevailing Covid-19 protocols and publishes the first edition of the Eastern Africa Journalism Review.

• 2022 – TEF/EAES/UNESCO and partners host AMC I in Arusha Tanzania; EAES publishes the second edition of the Eastern Africa Journalism Review.

• Salutations to key the many media leaders on the continent who made this possible. Allow me to give special mention to Lydia Gachungi (UNESCO Addis Ababa), Cheryl Akinyi (Open Society), Deodatius Balile (Tanzania Editors Forum), Prof. George Nyabuga (EAES) and Southern Africa Editors Forum (SANEF) led by Willy Mponda.

2. AREMINDERONTHEAMC1RECOMMENDATIONS(ARUSHADECLARATION) Recommendations to the Media in Africa

1. To coordinate with all the African media stakeholders and organise the Africa Media Convention as an annual event in commemoration of the WPFD to be hosted in an African regional location on a rotational basis.

3. In coordination with all the African media stakeholders, to jointly carry out an annual independent press freedom and safety of journalist’s assessment based on indicators agreed on, with flexibility of additional focus on emerging issues.
4. The media in Africa should put in place a joint campaign strategy for the revision of repressive laws in parts of Africa, including criminal defamation and advocate for more ethical and responsible self-regulation or co-regulation.
5. To strengthen the African media networks and actively engage in global media programs with a view to exchange good practices from and by different actors.
6. Taking note with the aim to implement the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and End to Impunity that envisages and encourages the creation of national safety mechanisms following the “three Ps (Prevention, Protection, and Prosecution)”, to establish multi- stakeholder national and sub-regional coordination mechanisms by creating strategic alliances with all the different for the safety and security of journalists.
7. Take specific and targeted action for women journalists to safely enter the journalism professional, facilitate their rise up the structural ladder and ensure their meaningful and equitable representation at the annual Africa Media Convention and other media related workshops, conferences and conventions.
8. Partner with and support the strengthening of the digital platform for the safety of journalists in Africa, including support to reinforcing monitoring and reporting mechanisms at national level.

2. Develop a framework for an effective media coalition to enhance collaborative efforts among journalists, media, research, academia, professional organizations and CSOs to enhance relationships and interventions promoting professionalism, media freedom, safety and security of journalists in Africa.

9. Prioritise capacity building of journalists including mentorship to ensure those joining the profession possess the right skills that are key to the professionalization of journalism. Special attention to strengthening the capacity and use of community radio, embrace new media business modules, media innovation and new skills for content development.
10. Inreporting theCOVID pandemic and other health related matters, media houses to address the difficulties journalists in Africa face in

(a) accessing verified health information and

(b) distinguishing misinformation from verifiable facts quickly to prevent further disseminating and legitimising false stories

(c) Prioritise  journalists safety as front line workers through protection equipment and understanding of the safety protocols in reporting pandemics.

11. Furthermore capacity building of Journalists in required in areas such as:- Innovative reporting techniques (such as the use of artificial intelligence and social media platforms), health related data analysis skills, health information interpretation, source verification among others

Recommendations to the civil society

1. Advocate against laws and practices that hamper the ability of journalists to operate safely and freely including in the digital domain.
2. Monitor, report and hold states accountable for their violations of the rights of journalists and independent content creators.
3. Support capacity building for media and independent content creators.
4. Engage in strategic public interest litigation through collaborative efforts to challenge laws,

measures and acts that violate media freedom and safety of journalists.

5. Regularly publish privacy policies and transparency reports and inform users about the collection, use, handling, sharing and retention of their data that may affect their right to

privacy.

6. Coordinate with the media stakeholders and engage with legal practitioners to analyse laws and regulations that need judicial interpretation through public interest litigation, to allow for testing of the application of the law and constitutional guarantees on the right to participation. The judicial interpretation should focus on specific provisions of the law to show how they affect the right to participation as provided under the Constitution.

Recommendations to the African Union and its Bodies and Regional Economic Communities (RECs)

1. Create an African media fund to finance and support media viability given the financial challenges facing most media organizations in the continent. This is necessary to protect the media from political and economic pressures and thus consolidate freedom of the media in Africa.

2. Popularize the existing mechanism by the African Commission for Human and People’s

Rights (the Commission) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa for regularly gathering the reports on freedom of expression and freedom of the media violations

3. Popularize the mechanism by the African Court to allow individuals, therein the journalists, to file cases on violations of media freedoms.
4. Establish a mechanism for the African Media stakeholders to address the AU Security Council on matters related to journalists safety and violations of the freedoms as presented in national, regional and international legal instruments;
5. Strengthen the engagement between the African media networks and the AU bodies mandated to support and defend freedom of expression, press freedom, access to information and the safety of journalists.
6. Recommend a joint and holistic capacity media programme between the African Union, the African Media Stakeholders, UNESCO and other media development partners, within the framework of Agenda 2063 and 2030 (Media for Agenda 2063 and 2030)

Recommendations to the African Governments

3. Take decisive measures to check surveillance and monitoring of journalists’ communications over their legitimate work; and amend national laws and practices on surveillance to ensure compliance with international human rights minimum standards.

Recommendations to the United Nations and Development Partners

1. Repeal, amend or review existing laws, policies and practices on surveillance, interception of communication and biometric data collection, and limitation on the use of encryption to ensure compliance with the established international minimum standards on human rights.
2. Establish legal actions to prevent and prosecute illegal surveillance of journalists, both by public and private parties, while there should be strengthened legal protection for journalists to keep their sources confidential.

4. Support the national, sub regional and continent-wide annual assessments by the African Media stakeholders on press freedom and safety of journalists in Africa for the improvement of policy and operational environment for press freedom.
5. Appoint a focal person within the three arms of the Government as the liaison between the Government and media stakeholders on matters related for safety of journalists

1. Support improved approaches towards more long-term, predicable and structured financing for programmes aimed at strengthening freedom of expression, access to information and media development, involving the progression of African journalists’ capacities as key partners in the achievement of, as integral priorities of, Agenda 2063 and 2030.
2. Direct cooperation to advance normative support to duty bearers as with rights bearers, to build national capacities to develop and implement effective governance structures, policies and legal frameworks to expand information as a public good.
3. Broaden scope of support to interventions promoting media and civic engagement, to include artists advancing freedom of expression and journalists as human rights defenders, as well as, to journalists and journalism in conflict and humanitarian situations with considerations for gender and persons with disabilities
4. Strengthen the UN Plan of Action for the safety of journalists by ensuring the active engagement of the duty bearers at all levels
5. Support the extension of the last-mile AU communication project to the whole of the African Union Communications

Recommendations to the Private Sector / Technology Companies

1. Strengthen privacy standards in regard to threats to the right to privacy by digital technologies and practices such as data retention, artificial intelligence, spyware, and arbitrary surveillance.
2. Take strong steps to prevent and eliminate online attacks against journalists, orchestrated campaigns of harassment and intimidation.
3. Intensified measures need to be taken to protect women journalists, who are especially violently targeted online and offline, such as by increasing responsiveness to their situation and developing tools to identify and fight online violence.

4. Strengthen knowledge and capabilities of media in Africa on the use of technology to enhance media viability and sustainability, extending to enhancing understanding the role of data- driven journalism and the transparency of digital platforms as catalysts for citizens’ fundamental rights.
5. Reinforce development efforts to narrow the digital gap, the gender divide and between rural and urban spaces, with consideration to increasing access for persons with disabilities
6. Social media platforms should increase transparency about any actions to stop the spread of disinformation and to promote trustworthy information instead.
7. Put in place measures and systems to enhance fact-checking and information verification and join efforts by government and other sectors to combat disinformation and hate speech
8. Provide digital security training for journalists and invest in boosting the digital resilience of their infrastructure and operations.
9. Big Tech in the media ecosystem who benefit commercially by distributing content from media organisations, to also share in paying for journalism noting that quality journalism is expensive to produce and those who profit from the value created in the news production process to share its cost.

3. LESSONS AND EXPERIENCES SINCE ARUSHA

• We raised the case of Azory Gwanda at the AMC I. Azory Gwanda, a freelance journalist working in rural Tanzania, has been missing since November 21, 2017. The Tanzanian government has failed to carry out conclusive investigations to bring closure to his loved ones and his colleagues.
• In October 2022, TV journalist Arshad Sharif, who had fled Pakistan citing threats to his life, was shot dead by police at a road block in Kajiado, near Nairobi. Kenyan officials said it was a case of mistaken identity but investigations on to the case has not progressed much, seven months later.
• 2023 started on a sour note. In five months, we have already lost at least four journalists. Before proceeding, we must acknowledge (have a moment of silence?) for the African journalists we have already lost this year:

o Martinez Zogo of Cameroon— a fearless radio journalist was abducted, tortured, and murdered in January.

o John Williams Ntwali—an independent investigative journalist and YouTuber who died in Rwanda in January. Authorities have said he was killed in a car accident. His death has drawn international calls for credible and transparent investigations.

o And in February Cameroonian journalist Jean Jacque-Ola Bebe was found dead with bullet wounds to his face.

o And our community is still reeling from the Anye Nde Nsoh, yet another Cameroonian journalist gunned down on May 7.

• The deaths of these journalists are a reminder of the incredibly difficult conditions under which journalists on the continent operate.

• As we convene here today, some of our brothers and sisters are behind bars in countries across the region, simply for doing their jobs. And we should also remember them. They include:

o Burundian journalist Floriane Irangabiye. She is serving a 10-year prison term for speaking out against the political elite in her home country.

o About 16 Eritrean journalists who have been detained for over two decades.

• And we have seen attempts to silence the press take on other forms—whether it is the harassment and assault of journalists in Kenya covering protests, aggression against members of the press in Nigeria covering elections, or media bans, internet shutdowns, and restrictive laws that criminalize our work.
• Journalists continue to face incredible risks to bring the stories of conflict to our television sets and newspapers. We acknowledge the brave work of the Sudanese journalists, the journalists covering the situation in Eastern DRC and the Somali journalists who risk life and liberty to report the news each day.
• Despite the risks that journalists face—physical harm, imprisonment, threats, or even death—they continue to do their jobs. There are far easier professions to be found.
• But journalists, and African journalists in particular, persevere because they know that without the news - without investigative reporting to hold those in power to account or criticism that introduces the public to diverse opinions—then the very foundations of democratic societies is compromised.
• As the theme of this year’s Africa Media Convention acknowledges: Good journalism, underwritten by broader commitments to freedom of information, is essential to the achievement and protection of other human rights. Journalists reporting on extrajudicial killings protect our right to life, journalists covering massive corruption in health or education are fighting to ensure that our children have dignified futures.
• Detained unjustly for speaking out for press freedom, Somali journalist Abdalle Ahmed Mumin started collecting the stories of his fellow prisoners facing extortion, rape, and torture behind bars. Even where his own right to liberty was not guaranteed, he sought to protect if for others.

• Journalists reporting on environmental degradation and climate change, who seek to guarantee the collective future of humanity, continue to face hardship, threats, in parts of our continent.
• But the story of African journalism is about more than just perseverance in the face of incredible difficulties. “There must be joy in the struggle”, as Christine Mungai of Baraza Media in Nairobi has argued in the past.
• As we deliberate over the next few days, let us also share the triumphs, the joy and the causes for celebration that we have as an African media community. There are lessons to be learnt too from the stories that drove change, the initiatives that taught us new ways to see our profession – for example the amazing work done on the continent by the Women in News (WIN) project of WAN-Ifra, the All women media house established in Somalia which recently marked its first anniversary, or the dozens of startups innovating with news writing, distribution, bringing in fresh audiences to engage with the news). Let us celebrate the release of colleagues from detention or captivity (eg. French journalist Olivier Dubois who was released in after two years of abduction in Mali).
• Let us hold up these positive stories, learn from them, and gain from the strength we need to fight another day, to tell the story a different way, to nurture a journalism that is essential for the future of our continent.

4. RECOMMENDATIONSFORFUTUREAMCS

a) Establish a steering committee to ensure follow up on resolutions and coordination of convention content with national and regional formations

b) Africa Media Review to document key ideas in an in-depth manner.

In conclusion, allow me to salute the organizing committee for AMC II, for their commitment, ingenuity, and drive that has seen us converge in such a successful convention and help establish a tradition for Africa media.

Thank you!