Across Continent, Governments Criminalize Investigative Reporting By Mohamed Keita Across the continent, the emergence of in-depth reporting and the absence of effective access-to-information laws have set a collision course in which public officials, intent on shielding their activities, are moving aggressively to unmask confidential sources, criminalize the possession of government documents, and retaliate against probing…
Top Developments • Legislation criminalizes coverage that insults president, state institutions. • Three top papers purchased by mysterious corporation. Coverage grows timid. Key Statistic 2: Journalists killed in 2010, one a Togolese sports reporter, killed in soccer team ambush. President José Eduardo dos Santos led one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but he faced criticism…
Top Developments • Authorities unleash reprisals when journalists question oil company deal. • Nation mourns the death of pioneering journalist Pius Njawé. Key Statistic 4: Journalists jailed for leaked document. One dies in custody, a second alleges he was tortured. When four newspaper journalists jointly sent questions to a top presidential adviser in late 2009,…
Top Developments • Government arrests several journalists on defamation charges. • Journalists fear repression as 2011 presidential election approaches. Key Statistic 2: Weeks that reporter Tumba Lumembu was held incommunicado by intelligence agents. On the defensive over criticism of its human rights record and its handling of the conflict with rebels in eastern Congo, President…
Top Developments • Editor Dawit Kebede honored with International Press Freedom Award. • Authorities jail critical journalists, jam VOA Amharic broadcasts. Key Statistic 7: Hours that two newspaper editors were interrogated as Zenawi gave speech on freedom of choice. The ruling Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front, or EPRDF, imprisoned journalists, jammed foreign broadcasters, and blocked…
Top Developments • Two journalists murdered, another assaulted in ethnic violence. • Secrecy surrounds death of President Yar’Adua. Key Statistic 7: Journalists kidnapped in restive southern region. All are freed. Official secrecy surrounded the heart ailment that eventually claimed the life of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, sparking a debate over what constituted public information. Nigeria…
Top Developments • Government drives Kinyarwanda- language papers out of print before presidential vote. • Critical newspaper editor assassinated. Skepticism greets police investigation. Key Statistic 93: Percentage of vote taken by incumbent Paul Kagame in presidential election. He faced no credible opposition. Before a crowd of thousands in Kigali, just days before he was re-elected…
Top Developments • Africa’s most dangerous country for the press. Two journalists killed in 2010. • Al-Shabaab shuts downs, seizes control of major radio stations. Key Statistic 59: Somali journalists in exile, the second largest press diaspora in the world. Ethiopians constitute the largest. Somalia remained Africa’s most dangerous country for the press. Two journalists…
Top Developments • ANC pushes proposal to create state media tribunal to monitor, sanction press. • Anti-media rhetoric heats up, tarnishing nation’s image as press freedom leader. Key Statistic 25: Years of imprisonment for disclosing classified information, as proposed in the Protection of Information Bill. On the defensive about high crime rates and reports of…
Top Developments • Electronic surveillance measure enacted; may chill news reporting. • Court strikes down sedition law used against critical journalists. Key Statistic 5: Journalists assaulted during clashes between security forces and members of the Buganda kingdom. Authorities harassed and obstructed journalists covering two stories that shook the nation: a fire that destroyed a historic…