Nairobi — The spotlight turned on the practice of journalism in Africa and its role in the evolution of a just and fair society, as the inaugural Pan African Media Conference got underway on Thursday.
News media that took root in Africa at the dawn of the 19th century and expanded rapidly in the second half of the 20th century at the peak of the nationalist movement, were celebrated and damned in equal measure, with speakers agreeing that they had engaged robustly in the political, economic, social, cultural and environmental evolution.
The rise of independent media boosted the nationalist movement, peaking in the first liberation. Later, the media played a role in securing the freedom.
Speakers dwelt on the themes of media independence, responsibility, new media, training and development. The accent was that media must work within given legal and policy frameworks, and be ready to account for the messages they disseminate.
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But opinion is divided on freedom and regulation. In Kenya, while the Government has given the media latitude to operate, it has consistently striven to enact repressive laws that threaten to whittle the good intentions, such that there remains unresolved debate on media regulations introduced by the Information and Communication ministry, which, among others, seek to curtail cross-media ownership.
Significantly, President Kibaki asked for fresh discussion to resolve such outstanding disputes, recognising that some laws not only portended ill for good governance, but strangled investment. The ministry will need consult widely with media owners, editors' and journalists' organs, and other interest groups.
Media and the African renaissance dominated the talks. This fitted well within the various schools of thought espoused by media academics. Listening to the speakers, the tenor was that the African media must promote development; they ought to report on scientific breakthroughs and other socio-economic projects while aligning themselves to national aspirations.
African media must also help minimise negative images of the continent such as wars, diseases, hunger and famine. In short, the African media ought to be optimistic rather than pessimistic.
Political leaders discussing this topic abhorred Afro-pessimists, at one point heaping blame on the media for looking the other way when the continent did good. True, the continent has had its upheavals, but it has also recorded successes.
In any case, Europe fomented two world wars in quick succession in the 20th century and played home to the Holocaust. America has many grave records, including racial bigotry, and in recent times, was the trigger of global economic recession, whose ripple effect continue to dog developing nations. Thus, no continent is without its shortcomings.
Africa's media walks the tightrope. They have to balance between serving national interests and checking governmental excesses. Often, there is conflict when the media dig the rot in governments as they are accused of serving partisan interests.
The cross-cutting issue was that Africa was at a defining moment and needed a sympathetic, tolerant and sophisticated media; one that reported issues without exaggerating, and provided context to enable consumers to frame them appropriately.
Ultimately, the African media must go into introspection. They must redefine their agenda and begin to create platforms through which citizens can confront more critical issues like governance, human rights and environmental sustainability at a time of rapid technological and economic evolution.
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