Joan Chirwa
Joan Chirwa is CPJ’s southern Africa researcher and founder of Free Press Initiative, a Zambian nonprofit media organization. Previously, she held senior positions at two Zambian newspapers, as managing editor of The Post and editor-in-chief of The Mast. Chirwa holds a master’s degree in mass communication from Britain’s Leicester University, a diploma in journalism from Evelyn Hone College in Lusaka, a bachelor of laws degree from the University of Zambia, and is an advocate of the High Court of Zambia.
Zambian lawyers fight for media freedom as journalists harassed ahead of election
Lusaka, April 22, 2026—For months, lawyer Josiah Kalala has been working late into the night on a case he believes could define the future of press freedom in Zambia: preparing arguments, reviewing legal provisions, and consulting colleagues. Kalala, who heads Chapter One Foundation, a local human rights group, hopes that the hundreds of hours he…
Gag orders against journalists raise South Africa press freedom concerns
When a South African solar panel company last month dropped its legal battle over a gag order preventing journalist Bongani Hans from reporting on allegations of misleading clients, Hans told the Committee to Protect Journalists that he saw it as “a victory for media and press freedom.” But for Hans and others in the country’s…