Four years ago, l visited Burundi, a tiny central Africa republic where millions of people were ravaged by years of ethnically motivated conflict, today millions more are faced with a looming disease epidemics, malnutrition and starvation, and just when we were about to leave l was told that forty-three journalists had been arrested for attending a press conference called by a politician who was defecting from government to join the opposition. In the same month, in Kenya, the ‘democratically’ elected government of president Kibaki staged a commando-style raid on the Kenya Television Network (KTN), arrested journalists and burned copies of Newspapers for allegedly printing subversive stories aimed at threatening national security. In another incident the Speaker of the National Assembly barred another media station from covering parliamentary proceeding.
Last week, l attended a media briefing intended to familiarize the media on the importance of a Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission and the character of its Chairman in the wake of growing public outcry for his resignation. l sat quietly and listened as journalists attending the briefing were reminded on the role of the media in promoting democracy and national reconciliation.
My take of the idea of having a media briefing to lecture journalists on democracy is quite clear: the role of the media in democratic processes cannot be trifled with. I believe that even though this connection – between the media and democracy – is so obvious, the people in Africa who matter – the politicians and bureaucrats – have failed to grasp this importance.
This has been a major weakness in African countries. The tendency among those in authority in Africa is to keep things that ought to be made public, secret and confidential. If journalists are not properly briefed by public officials, how do we expect them to relay the right information to the public? If journalists behave unprofessionally, as many governments (and not just in Africa) are wont to say, isn’t it because they have decided to hide basic information from journalists?
The result is that we end up with a rampant and dangerous rumor mill in many African capitals. This rumor mill has been responsible for causing unrest in many countries by the sheer speed with which false information travels. The lack of official communication encourages people to spread rumors about the reasons for particular decisions or the actions of their leaders.
Such rumors are evidence of the extent to which state officials in Africa continue to direct public affairs in an autocratic and bureaucratic manner that ultimately lead to underdevelopment rather than development.
The media plays a crucial role in society by simply disseminating news about those who decide political and economic policies and by providing a voice for the people. Clearly, as important providers of information, the media are more likely to promote democracy and create an environment where development flourishes. But the media has to be independent and responsible.
The value of timely and appropriate information to development could, therefore, not be overemphasized. Given the above, it is important that African governments draw up media policies to enhance democracy and promote peace, security and development.
Governments should create an enabling atmosphere that would allow the media – that is, the press, radio and television – to operate in the interest of the state and people. The media, too, will have to be more responsible in order to ensure that the countries in which they operate do not slide into conflict through ill-informed journalism.
It is important that national media policies take into consideration the aims and aspiration of people and the state. The media should be encouraged to promote a country’s culture and be ready to defend the integrity of the state and people. In this regard there should be a heightened state of political communication between those who govern and those they govern, carried out through the media. Thus, there should be a deliberate effort to involve the large part of the population that has been left out of the political debate for so long. This means that the urban bias of media – more so the press – should be redressed. Publishing in local languages should be an option for the press if national development policies are to reach every part of the country and human security is to be promoted and protected.
After all, it is through the media that a people’s sense of belonging is created and nurtured. It is through the media that nation-states and national identities are defined, protected and promoted.
