By Osoro Nyawangah, MWANZA Tanzania
Tanzania's former President John Magufuli’s sudden death in March 2021, a few months after his reelection for a second term, left the country's journalists and the media fraternity in a state of uncertainty.
Since becoming president in 2015, the late Magufuli had become increasingly authoritarian, tolerating no criticism of himself or his policies.
Media outlets that fail to toe the government line quickly found themselves deprived of state advertising, closure, fines or their licences suspended.
The coronavirus crisis also fed the climate of fear and encouraged even more self-censorship.
In April this year, the new President, Samia Hassan, revived lost hopes by ordering the reopening of media outlets that were closed or otherwise repressed under President Magufuli.
She ordered responsible authorities to lift the ban on all media outlets that were closed under the previous administration.
"I am told you revoked licenses of some media outlets, including some online television stations. You should lift the ban but tell them to follow the law and government guidelines." She said during swearing in of Permanent Secretaries at State House.
She added, "let us not give them a chance to say that we are limiting press freedom."
Yesterday June 29, President Hassan reiterated the same support to the media with a warning to embrace "African Journalism."
Speaking during her maiden press conference, President Hassan said that the media houses that were on suspension should reapply for new licences and continue operation.
Reacting to a question tabled by a journalist, the President said journalists should observe the law of the land and honour African discipline in their journalistic work.
"Let me put it clear here, you have to follow the law in your practice; apart from the law we have to observe African discipline and dignity. You can't come-up with your newspaper analyzing a person thoroughly inside out as if you are not part of the community." She stressed.
She invited the media to criticize and correct her government where they feel that is not right with "honour and African discipline."
The media plays a crucial role in informing the public about the factual situation and measures taken by government in development projects and other areas of public interest. Its capacity to operate freely should not be unduly restricted.
Journalists often describe the essence of their work as finding and presenting “the facts” and also “the truth about the facts” and not otherwise, no 'African discipline' is allowed in journalism except "the truth about the facts."
Called the Discipline of Verification, its intellectual foundation rests on three core concepts; transparency, humility, and originality.
The president should allow transparency in his government to avoid collision the media.
Giving condition on how the media should operate is considered as media censorship that shall put the media in the state of uncertainty again!
It is very important that the government give leeway to journalists to do what they do best without monitoring them because once they're monitored, that's censorship.
Media censorship is a global phenomenon that has foreshadowed information outlets for centuries.
A common ground for censorship is maintenance of an orderly state, whereas, the underlying motive is to keep public ignorant of the information that can potentially threaten authorities.
Historically, the access to news has not been this easy; the press in most of Europe in the 18th century was under the draconian reins of censorship, which gradually abated by the 19th century due to public demand.
However, autocratic and heavily centralized governments still openly or subtly employ censorship as a tool to silence government opposition.
To combat information coup, tech savvy journalists and independent reporters channel information through social media, blogs, and news websites. The governments survive by using stringent Internet surveillance apparatus that effectively block websites and subtly filter information; hence only selective news is allowed to penetrate the firewall.
The governments also hunt down citizens and journalists accessing disallowed websites to create a ubiquitous atmosphere of fear, harassment, and persecution.
The role of media in a society is not limited to bringing information to public; therefore, it is crucial that media does not capitalize on selling meaningless sensation that can potentially harm people, sects, races, and religions.
The democracy is balanced by the three pillars of namely The Executive, The Legislative and The Judiciary but now in this era Democracy is lined towards the fourth pillar that is Media.
The merit of the democratic system is that it gives freedom of expression and a space is given to each individual.
Whereas media is used to create awarenesd about various social, political and economic activities, media is like a mirror to the world which reflects the true and harsh realities of the world.
Because of media censorship in Tanzania, Erick Kabendera, an investigative reporter, paid a high price for his articles criticising the economy, the government and corruption, spending a total of seven months in prison after his arrest in July 2019.
The court’s inability to stand up to the prosecutors, who changed the charges three times, sent a chilling message to journalists.
The authorities displayed absolutely no concern about Azory Gwanda, a Tanzanian journalist who went missing in November 2017 while investigating the murders of local officials in a coastal region.
Several months before, the authorities expelled two international press freedom defenders who had been investigating his disappearance.
Nothing protected the media and journalists against the executive any more in Tanzania.
The adoption of increasingly restrictive laws and regulations are also used in the war against independently reported news.
New ones in 2020 banned publishing information about a “deadly or contagious disease” that had not been approved by the authorities, and reproducing content from foreign media without prior permission.
Some of the laws that have been used in recent years to stifle the right to freedom of expression, access to information and media freedom and silence critical voices are the Media Services Act, the Electronic and Postal Communications (Digital and Other Broadcasting Networks and Services) Regulations, Electronic and Postal Communications (Radio and Television Content) Regulations, and Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulations.
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