Vigilance, collaboration, government support, and legal action are important ingredients for press freedom.
These were the thoughts of ED/CEO Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), Motunrayo Alaka; Managing Editor of Daily Trust Newspaper, Stella Iyaji; Project Manager, Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ), Adeolu Adekola; and other contributors during the WSCIJ Twitter Spaces event, tagged, “Shaping the future of press freedom in Africa” to mark the 2023 World Press Freedom Day.
As the global community marked the 30th anniversary of the World Press Freedom Day, Alaka reiterated that stakeholders must understand that a shackled press leads to a shackled democracy, shackled development, and limitations of other significant elements necessary for national development. Hence, the conversation for a free press must continue beyond this year’s World Press Freedom Day.
A press statement by the centre, Friday, said WSCIJ ED/CEO, while speaking at the event moderated by WSCIJ, Senior Programme Officer, Wemimo Adewuni, described freedom of expression from which freedom of the press emanates, as a driver for all other human rights.
“For her, freedom of expression is the foundation of other freedoms- access to information, the right to know, the right to life, the right to education, the right to male-female equality, and many other rights.
“She alluded to the World Press Freedom Index which ranked 129 out of 180 and categorised it as one of the most problematic countries for press freedom in the world,” the statement read in part.
According to the centre, Alaka lamented the Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) strategy by political office holders, government agencies and the private sector to deliberately sue journalists and media houses in a bid to frustrate freedom of the press with the long judicial processes.
“Alaka cited cases where out of concern about the slow judicial system, media houses decline legal assistance offered by lawyers when their rights have been infringed on.
“She called on the older and stronger media organisations to test available legal provisions to defend press freedom.
“She also advised journalists to publish stories about their frustration to access information and attacks on press freedom rather than the usual, ‘all efforts to reach the government proved abortive.’
Similarly, with a focus on President Goodluck Jonathan and President Muhammadu Buhari’s administrations, Iyaji lamented that despite over 20 years of uninterrupted democracy, successive Nigerian governments have clamped down on media organisations with numerous cases of harassment, intimidation, and arrests of journalists.
She noted that, “Although requisite legal provisions guaranteeing press freedom and freedom of expression exist alongside the Freedom of Information Act which empowers the media to access any information, enforcement of these laws are lacking at all levels of government.”
In proffering solutions, Iyaji hoped the incoming administration would see the press as a partner in nation-building and not a threat.
She urged the National Assembly to enact laws that will empower the media to carry out its responsibilities of holding the government to account.
In the same vein, CIJ project manager, noted that the price of freedom was eternal vigilance.
According to Adekola, it was crucial for the media to speak up and set the agenda.
Citing his experiences while working with other journalists across Africa, he noted that the issue of press freedom was also affecting media support organisations as it was becoming harder to train journalists across Africa due to lack of access.
Following the democratisation of the media sector and the increase in citizens’ journalism, the project manager urged media organisations to curb the spread of fake news and misinformation.
Also, a former National Assistant Secretary, Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Midat Joseph, opined that many media organisations were established for profit-making and as such, stories affecting their interests or sources of income were often frowned upon by media owners.
He urged WSCIJ to empower and collaborate with more small independent media organisations to hold the government to account.
