“I didn’t wear the bulletproof jacket and helmet that
Reuters gave me,” explained veteran Somali journalist Sahal Abdulle
to a packed crowd at
More and more media outlets rely on local journalists
for international coverage as they try to cut costs, CPJ has found. As Fareed Zakaria
wrote in the preface to Attacks: “In
this new environment, local journalists are going to assume added importance—and
they will take on greater risks.” The East African journalists at the
“In the past, when I attended media events at
this hotel, the room was packed with foreign faces,” said Member of Parliament Gitobu
Imanyara, a stalwart defender of press freedom in I agree with Imanyara. But often freelancers or
stringers hired by major media outlets do not receive the same kind of
protection and support as foreign correspondents. As I mentioned in my remarks,
“freelancer” does not mean media outlets are free from responsibility to defend
their journalists.
David Makali, director of the Nairobi-based East
African Media Institute, and Tervil Okoko from the East African Journalists Association
pointed out today that six out of nine East African nations will hold elections
soon. It is a critical time for the region as tensions will invariably rise and
political interest groups will target unfavorable election coverage. With more
local journalists than ever carrying the weight for news organizations around
the world, CPJ will be playing close attention.
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