Media Freedom

What do Dele Giwa, Sunday Bwede, Nathan Dabak, Bayo Ohu, Samson Boyi, Sam Nimfa-Jan, Fidelis Ikwuebe, Okezie Amaruben, Tunde Oladepo, Edo Ugbagwu, Paul Abayomi Ogundeji, Godwin Agbroko, Ephraim Audu, and Baguda Kaltho have in common? They were journalists. A profession that served them the death warrant in the hands of those who hate the freedom of expression. Their contribution to freedom of expression, democracy and peace is etched in the minds of those who continue to fearlessly practice the trade.

The United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) is UN’s agency with the mandate to evaluate and defend freedom of expression and promote freedom of the press. Article 1 of its Constitution requires the Organisation to “further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations.”

There is no better way to promote this mandate than the celebration of World Press Freedom Day which took place at a three-day conference in Washington DC from May 1 – 3 2011 at the Newseum and the National Press Centre. The event was attended by over 600 journalists, new media innovators, policymakers and press freedom advocates from across the globe including Omoyele Sowore, Publisher of Sahara Reporters, who was one of the panelists in the Censorship Without Bothers breakout session. The World Press Freedom Day was born 20 years ago by a group of journalists gathered under the auspices of UNESCO in Windhoek, Namibia. Twenty years on, the media landscape has changed beyond recognition but UNESCO’s objective according to the Director General remains the same; “to promote freedom of expression as the foundation of human dignity and as a cornerstone of democracy”. After Windhoek, events every day show that promoting freedom of expression remains as important and as challenging as ever.

While speaking at the opening ceremony, Irina Bokova, first female Director-General of UNESCO says that freedom of expression is vital for strong democracies and for human development and security and UNESCO is dedicated to ensuring that the internet becomes a global public resource as a means of fostering the freedom of expression and access to information. This according to Ms. Bokova calls for media and internet literacy and it requires defending the integrity and safety of journalists everywhere. She reiterated that violations of fundamental human rights cannot go unanswered.

In presenting the results of the annual press freedom report, Karin Karlekar, Senior Researcher at Freedom House said the 8-year decline experienced between 2002 and 2010 may be coming to an end going by the strides made globally especially with Subsaharan Africa showing some improvements. For most region, narrowing of space for independent broadcasting, control of new means of information disemination and suppression of press freedom has continued. The survey rated in terms of press freedom, four countries as improved - Moldova, Guinea, Liberia and Niger, having moved from, “not free“ to “partly free“ or from “partly free“ to “free“ and five as being worse off - Egypt, Mexico, South Korea, Honduras and Thailand, having moved from “free“ to “partly free“ or from “partly free“ to “not free“ as the case may be. A large map showing how countries faired graced the Newseum during the conference. Details of the survey and analysis can be found in the report; Freedom of the Press 2011: A Global Survey of Media Independence.

According to Stephen King, Investment Partner, Omidyar Network, host of opening reception, “For those who share interest or passion in seeing that press freedom is protected and promoted, we can all take advantage of the opportunities presented by new technologies to further these freedoms." As part of its efforts to promote government transparency, Omidyar Network in conjunction with a group of outside donors, including the Gates Foundation and the Mo Ibrahim Foundation will be giving $2 million grant over two years to the Media Development Loan Fund, $450, 000 over three years to the Sahara Reporters, $800, 000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists over the next year and $1.7 million over the next two years to the African Media Initiative, a consortium of private and independent African outlets aiming to strengthen the continent’s media landscape and promote transparency, rule of law and democratic governance.

Nigeria no doubt has made some strides. After 12 years of pushing against the tide, the House of Representatives unanimously passed the Freedom of Information Bill on February 24, 2011 while the Senate passed it on March 16, 2011. However, there are many differences between the versions of the Bill passed by both chambers of the National Assembly, some of which are quite significant and have far-reaching implications for the efficacy of the rights guaranteed under and the fulfillment of the obligations created by the Bill. Media Rights Agenda and members of other civil societies are anxious to conclude the harmonisation process so that the plenary sessions of both Chambers of the National Assembly can adopt the harmonised version of the Bill and fast track its transmission to the President for assent as required by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended before the end of the current administration.

The three-day conference, sponsored by the United States, UNESCO and other partners, concluded on Tuesday with a closing ceremony during which the jailed Iranian journalist, Ahmad Zeidabadi was awarded the Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. Zeidabadi, the Editor-in-Chief of Azad Newspaper, is currently serving a six-year jail term following Iran’s disputed 2009 presidential election. Ahmad dedicated the award to his family and “to all whose sons never returned home. I dedicate it to tearful mothers, sisters, daughters and children who live with the pain of having their loved ones in prison. For remembering us, God will remember and reward you.”

“When free media is in jeopardy, all other freedoms are threatened,” said U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton who made the final remark via a video conference. The theme of the 2011 conference was New Media in the 21st Century: New Frontiers, New Barriers. To honour this theme, participants at the event took part in an online conversation on press freedom. Tweets were marked with the hash tags, #WPFD and #PressFreedom and participants were encouraged to share the event on other social media platforms. At the close of the conference, the Washington Declaration was presented and adopted.

Though the website of the Committee to Protect Journalists report that 861 journalists have been killed globally since 1992 with 15 for Nigeria, it is public knowledge that many more have died just for daring to bring the truth to the attention of all. As we commemorate World Press Freedom Day, we call on UNESCO to update the web page dedicated to journalists who were assassinated in the exercise of their profession. Instead of duplicating effort, UNESCO may work with the Committee to Protect Journalists to ensure that all known journalists felled in the line of duty are listed. This will be a constant reminder that the fight for access to information and freedom of expression must be won for the souls of many that have died or are still in chains for holding up information to the light of truth. In Maya Angelou’s words, we may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.

The power in information can never be over emphasised. In the words of a former American President, Thomas Jefferson, “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” As we commemorate the World Press Freedom day, I join millions of people globally to honour the heroism of all those who make great sacrifice to freely express themselves in whatever medium; daring all intimidation. I ask that you stand, as we did at the conference, for a minute of silence to honour our fallen heroes whose ultimate price is reason enough to keep up clamouring for free press everywhere.

Omolola Famuyiwa is Project Director of Cares Global Network.