Press freedom slide a wakeup call
The lack of access to information and transparency has caused a slip in Namibia's shining press freedom history.
Namibia's tumble from the top spot as the freest press in Africa to second place in the latest Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index indicates a lack of seriousness on government's part in terms of access to information and transparency.
Last year, Namibia dropped by seven points from 17th to 24th place globally, but still retained its top spot as Africa's freest press.
Media activists and experts say the fact that the long overdue access to information law was not passed last year, as promised by lawmakers, played a significant role in the loss of three points and the fall in the global ranking from 24th to 26th spot.
“One of the major concerns was that the promised access to information law did not come into being in 2017. If we get a good and progressive law in place in the course of 2018, I am sure we'll rise in the rankings once again,” press freedom activist and editor Gwen Lister told Namibian Sun this week.
“Perhaps we became too complacent about our top ranking, and it's important to note that other countries are striving to do better as far as press freedom is concerned and are biting at our heels,” she added.
Ghana now tops the free press rankings in Africa, and is positioned at 23rd spot globally.
Lister cautioned that if Namibia is intends to regain the top spot, one of a variety of things that needs to be done is to ensure that the apartheid era protection of information act is scrapped.
“It is not compatible with a new access to information regime and the current case before court against The Patriot newspaper using this legislation could constitute a further setback.” Joseph Ailonga, chairman of the Namibia editor's forum said the new rankings reflect an ebbing desire to aspire to be number one in Africa, and the point loss shows that action, not words, is critical to retain the top position.
“It tells government that certain actions as well as rhetoric are not viewed as conducive for the media environment,” Ailonga said.
He added that despite the goal to retain the top spot in the Harambee Prosperity Plan, government should take note that the rankings indicate they are not “living up to that plan”.
He emphasised that the media “is not the opposition and neither the enemy of the state, but rather another organ of state”.
Press freedom activist Frederico Links said the latest index results are “troubling and it shows that, despite the president and government's proclamations about how valuable freedom of the press is and how they appreciate the country's ranking, their speeches aren't enough anymore.”
He said government's words don't match their actions and the new ranking “is embarrassing to the president, seeing as he recently in his state of the nation address made a big deal of Namibia's ranking”.
Links added that the lower ranking is a wakeup call to the president and that “he has run out of rhetorical space.
His administration has to act in terms of safeguarding the media, online and offline”.
The press freedom index score for Namibia worsened by three points, pointing to the lack of an access to information law as a key drawback
“Namibia's constitution guarantees free speech and protects journalists, but the lack of a freedom of information law continues to obstruct their work,” the assessment states.
It says further that “those who dare to criticise the authorities are often the target of government threats and seek a refuge on the internet, where they are not subject to control.
At the same time, self-censorship is common in the state-owned media.”
The critical assessment states that “public order and security legislation is often used to restrict the freedom to inform, while journalists are sometimes the targets of insults or attacks by political parties”.
The assessors also pointed out that pro-government media receive “a large chunk of their revenue available from advertising, which threatens the financial prospects of the privately-owned media and independent news coverage”.
Ailonga said he remains hopeful that Namibia can bounce back from the downgrade, but warned that the current ranking should be seen as call to action.
“In my opinion we have failed and might continue to fail Namibians if we continue on this path.
The media's role is to keep power in check and the powers that be must respect that if we are to have a fully functioning democracy.”
Namibia, at 26th place, still outranks South Africa (28), France (33), United States (45) and Botswana (48), globally.
JANA-MARI SMITH
Last year, Namibia dropped by seven points from 17th to 24th place globally, but still retained its top spot as Africa's freest press.
Media activists and experts say the fact that the long overdue access to information law was not passed last year, as promised by lawmakers, played a significant role in the loss of three points and the fall in the global ranking from 24th to 26th spot.
“One of the major concerns was that the promised access to information law did not come into being in 2017. If we get a good and progressive law in place in the course of 2018, I am sure we'll rise in the rankings once again,” press freedom activist and editor Gwen Lister told Namibian Sun this week.
“Perhaps we became too complacent about our top ranking, and it's important to note that other countries are striving to do better as far as press freedom is concerned and are biting at our heels,” she added.
Ghana now tops the free press rankings in Africa, and is positioned at 23rd spot globally.
Lister cautioned that if Namibia is intends to regain the top spot, one of a variety of things that needs to be done is to ensure that the apartheid era protection of information act is scrapped.
“It is not compatible with a new access to information regime and the current case before court against The Patriot newspaper using this legislation could constitute a further setback.” Joseph Ailonga, chairman of the Namibia editor's forum said the new rankings reflect an ebbing desire to aspire to be number one in Africa, and the point loss shows that action, not words, is critical to retain the top position.
“It tells government that certain actions as well as rhetoric are not viewed as conducive for the media environment,” Ailonga said.
He added that despite the goal to retain the top spot in the Harambee Prosperity Plan, government should take note that the rankings indicate they are not “living up to that plan”.
He emphasised that the media “is not the opposition and neither the enemy of the state, but rather another organ of state”.
Press freedom activist Frederico Links said the latest index results are “troubling and it shows that, despite the president and government's proclamations about how valuable freedom of the press is and how they appreciate the country's ranking, their speeches aren't enough anymore.”
He said government's words don't match their actions and the new ranking “is embarrassing to the president, seeing as he recently in his state of the nation address made a big deal of Namibia's ranking”.
Links added that the lower ranking is a wakeup call to the president and that “he has run out of rhetorical space.
His administration has to act in terms of safeguarding the media, online and offline”.
The press freedom index score for Namibia worsened by three points, pointing to the lack of an access to information law as a key drawback
“Namibia's constitution guarantees free speech and protects journalists, but the lack of a freedom of information law continues to obstruct their work,” the assessment states.
It says further that “those who dare to criticise the authorities are often the target of government threats and seek a refuge on the internet, where they are not subject to control.
At the same time, self-censorship is common in the state-owned media.”
The critical assessment states that “public order and security legislation is often used to restrict the freedom to inform, while journalists are sometimes the targets of insults or attacks by political parties”.
The assessors also pointed out that pro-government media receive “a large chunk of their revenue available from advertising, which threatens the financial prospects of the privately-owned media and independent news coverage”.
Ailonga said he remains hopeful that Namibia can bounce back from the downgrade, but warned that the current ranking should be seen as call to action.
“In my opinion we have failed and might continue to fail Namibians if we continue on this path.
The media's role is to keep power in check and the powers that be must respect that if we are to have a fully functioning democracy.”
Namibia, at 26th place, still outranks South Africa (28), France (33), United States (45) and Botswana (48), globally.
JANA-MARI SMITH
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