On Thursday, probably the most ambitious pan-Africa media conference starts in Nairobi. The conference is organised by the Nation Media Group (NMG) and the Africa Media Initiative. Among other things, the conference also celebrates NMG's 50th anniversary.
NMG might be one of Africa's most successful media stories, but it is by no means the oldest. In Kenya, its long-time competitor The Standard marked its 100th anniversary eight years ago. The Sunday Times in South Africa turned 100 in 2006. In Egypt, Al Ahram was founded in 1876, although at 134 years old, it is still trumped by Egypt and Africa's oldest newspaper, Al Waqaea Al Masreya, which was born in 1828.
The important thing about the birth of Nation Newspapers 50 years ago, is that it also marks the beginning of the modern press freedom era on the continent, with a record 17 African countries gaining independence in 1960. It has mostly been hell on earth for the African media for most of these 50 years. In fact the freest period for the African media generally has been the 15-year period between 1990 and 2005.
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It started with the "Second Liberation" wave that followed the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the return to multiparty politics, the liberalisation of economies and airwaves, and laws that repealed one-party era and military rule era restrictions. These laws made it possible in Nigeria, for the wife, children and dog of an editor whom military regime considered troublesome to be thrown in jail.
Today, 50 years later, most of Africa is going full circle. Zimbabwe has seen some shockingly draconian press laws in recent years. All the East African countries, for example, have passed or plan to bring laws that claw back a lot of the media freedoms gained in the last two decades. One of the most troubling press laws is the one that the Ugandan Government is due to bring to Parliament.
The Bill seeks to amend the 1995 Press and Journalists Act, and will overturn the current composition of the Media Council and turn it into a body where the government appoints nearly 90 per cent of the members. It will also make it mandatory that one must publish a beautiful newspaper, and have the money and equipment to do so — this will be a world first.
But most troubling, it introduces a category of "economic sabotage" offences. Journalists fear that the law will make it a crime to report on corruption, and is aimed at shutting down critical reporting of the secretive oil deals being made following recent discoveries of vast quantities of oil in the country.
SIGNIFICANTLY, THE LAST TIME Uganda had such "economic sabotage" crimes was during military dictator Idi Amin's rule in the 1970s. One reason these are happening in Africa is the injury the media has inflicted on itself with a range of sins. But the Barbarians are the gates of media freedom, so we shall not engage in self-flagellation.
There are wider causes: The spread of democracy in Africa has led to the collapse of the independence party monoliths. Only in a few countries like Tanzania and Botswana, do you still find parties in power that brought their countries to independence.
In their place have risen mostly regional and tribal parties that are able to rule through fragile alliances and pacts between tribal overlords. They came on the scene to find societies deeply divided and alienated by years of one-party and military repression.
The result is that in this Africa, it has been difficult to secure national goods of any type. Thus the only people whose votes count, are those who support the ruling party - those who don't find their vote invalidated through election theft.
Economic benefits will flow to the strongholds of the ruling party, and the home areas of the president and his tribesmen and women who control the state. A businessman from the right tribe or who supports the government, will get a tax holiday, and the one who doesn't won't.
Press freedom is also becoming a sectarian right. The pro-government journalists are free to praise the government, and to rail against the opposition. But opposition and independent media criticise the government only at their peril. Because media freedom is no longer a nationally available good, those who are not able to enjoy it freely, and they are the majority, don't care for it.
Oppressive media laws therefore, no longer evoke national outrage, and governments know that they can get away with it. More than at independence, the biggest task for Africa today is nation building. However, unlike at independence, there is no longer a nationalist press. The birth of Daily Nation-style newspaper is nearly impossible in Africa today.
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