The World Press Freedom Day ushered in AMI’s newest and decidedly ambitious project -- Leadership Guiding Principles for African Media Owners and Managers --which it launched in Tanzania in collaboration with the country’s media sector.
The project, which was commissioned two years ago by the African Media Initiative’s constituency of media leaders, aims to instil core leadership values around ethics, merit, transparency and good governance within African media houses.
Presiding at the launch at the Dar es Salaam Serena Hotel, Tanzania’s minister of Information, Youth, Culture and Sports, Dr Emmanuel John Nchimbi, welcomed the opportunity for Tanzania to set the pace for the rest of Africa.
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Dr. Nchimbi, who spoke on behalf of President Jakaya Kikwete, saw the leadership project as representing a bold step in which Africa is not being condemned to be a place where ideas come from outside but, on the contrary is leading the way .
There is a need, however, to walk the talk so that the principles do not remain mere exhortations, he added, reminding the media that the success of such an endeavour lay in responsible and collective ownership and implementation of the principles.
AMI’s chief executive officer, Mr Amadou Mahtar Ba, congratulated Tanzania for being the first country on the continent to pilot the project. He asked guests at the launch to reflect on the significance of the World Press Freedom Day at a time when hundreds of journalists across the world and in Africa face dangerous and life threating conditions to cover landmark stories.
The challenge, he said, was to ensure an apt culture and environment where journalists and media leaders were sheltered from pressures. To a certain extent that is what the Leadership Guiding Principles are proposing to do by encouraging African media leaders to adhere to the core values of ethics, excellence and good governance, Mr Ba pointed out.
He went on to stress the importance of ensuring that the principles did not become a mere showpiece, cautioning that the ultimate judge of the media sector’s conduct will always be the audience .
The chairman of the Media Owners Association of Tanzania, Dr. Reginald Mengi, commended AMI for taking the lead on the Leadership Guiding Principles. He posed questions about how ethics were defined and how the principles could be institutionalised. He spoke of the existence of a crisis in ethics that was impacting considerably on people. However, there was also good news as African leaders
were paving the way with such initiatives. The case of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) was alluded to as an example of homegrown best practice. AMI’s Leadership Guiding Principles followed in the same vein and ultimately could change the African media landscape.
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Dr. Mengi said that the success of project lay in its implementation and asked media leaders to rid themselves of their old habits and not look back, but forward with confidence, believing that they can transform positively the media landscape .
The event also hosted a debate on Redefining media for the common good , which saw the participation of prominent media experts, who offered their thoughts and reflections on issues ranging from the need to instil a culture of diversity and plurality within the media, to that of pushing for a more proactive form of journalism as well as the dangers of self censorship within the media fraternity.
The Leadership Guiding Principles have been translated into Kiswahili to ensure that they are widely distributed and discussed within all media houses.
The launch and signing ceremony constituted the first stage of an AMI multi-staged process where all the necessary support will be extended to assist media houses in implementing and monitoring the principles.
Contact Persons:
Dr Roukaya Kasenally, director of Communications and Knowledge Management - rkasenally@africanmediainitiative.org
Akisa Omulepu, director of Strategy and Programmes - aoumlepu@africanmediainitiative.org
