{"id":20589,"date":"2019-08-29T10:10:16","date_gmt":"2019-08-29T07:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/192.163.207.100\/~timesku1\/news\/?p=20589"},"modified":"2019-08-29T10:10:16","modified_gmt":"2019-08-29T07:10:16","slug":"africa-needs-traditional-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timeskuwait.com\/news\/africa-needs-traditional-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Africa Needs Traditional Media"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In June, Senegalese President Macky Sall\u2019s brother, Aliou Sall, resigned\u00a0from his post as the head of a state-run savings fund, following public outrage over allegations (which he denies) that he was involved in corrupt oil and gas deals. That outrage was expressed via social media and on the streets of Dakar. But it was investigative journalism,\u00a0carried out by the BBC, that triggered it, highlighting traditional media\u2019s enduring power to effect change.<\/p>\n<p>While social-media platforms get a lot of attention for their speed and accessibility, a credible free press \u2013 which does not simply parrot the official line of governments or special interests, but rather seeks the truth \u2013 remains essential to strengthening accountability in places where it can often be hard to find. And\u00a0independent investigative journalists in Africa have often\u00a0exposed high-level corruption, abuse of power, and shady business deals.<\/p>\n<p>For example, in Kenya, a leading local newspaper\u00a0reported\u00a0that Philip Kinisu, former chairman of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, had received suspicious payments from the National Youth Service. Further investigations into the NYS revealed\u00a0more corrupt deals, spurring Kenyans to\u00a0take to the streets\u00a0in protest.<\/p>\n<p>But those with power know how to fight back \u2013 and they do not pull their punches. As a result, in many African countries, the free press is being compromised, suppressed, and even dismantled.<\/p>\n<p>The most extreme example of media suppression in Africa is found in Eritrea, where Reporters Without Borders\u00a0estimates\u00a0that at least 11 journalists are languishing in prison. The country has only one independent and non-partisan news outlet \u2013 a radio station run by exiled journalists, based in Paris \u2013 and its signal is often jammed.<\/p>\n<p>But attacks on African news media\u2019s already-tenuous freedom are proliferating. They often come in the form of violence against independent journalists. Last year, two journalists in Nigeria were\u00a0assaulted\u00a0by security operatives attached to the president. In January, an undercover journalist in Ghana was\u00a0fatally shot, after a politician called for retribution against him for publishing an expos\u00e9 on corruption in the country\u2019s football (soccer) leagues.<\/p>\n<p>Governments also attempt to assert control over media outlets, even if it means shutting them down. In Tanzania, President John Magufuli\u2019s government has\u00a0suspended\u00a0newspapers and banned radio stations critical of his administration, using pretexts such as \u201csedition\u201d and \u201cnational security threats.\u201d News organizations have been pressured \u2013 in at least one case, by armed men \u2013 to publish stories favorable to the ruling elite.<\/p>\n<p>Independent media are squeezed further by chronic underfunding. Journalists not only lack resources to support their work; they are often so poorly compensated that they become vulnerable to corruption themselves. In Nigeria, \u201cbrown envelope journalism\u201d \u2013 when reporters are paid by individuals or organizations to publish favorable stories \u2013 is\u00a0commonplace.<\/p>\n<p>Where independent media are silenced, coerced, or captured, the public has few options for gaining any information beyond the narratives pushed by governments and special interests. Social-media platforms can play a role, but their main strength \u2013 their democratic nature \u2013 is also their fatal flaw. They have\u00a0proved\u00a0ideal for spreading fake news, which taints public debate and erodes trust in both facts and institutions.<\/p>\n<p>This dynamic was on\u00a0stark display\u00a0during Nigeria\u2019s last election campaign. Fake news stories \u2013 including the\u00a0claim\u00a0that President Muhammadu Buhari had died and been replaced by a lookalike \u2013 went viral on social media. Millions of Nigerians were convinced, with some even\u00a0carrying out\u00a0killings in retaliation for made-up violence. Recognizing the power of these stories, figures close to political parties began to invent and\u00a0circulate\u00a0claims that would benefit their candidates, severely distorting the election campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Independent traditional news outlets do not just avoid this problem; they are the key to addressing it, because only they can credibly verify the news being circulated on social media. That is why\u00a0Facebook\u00a0and\u00a0Google\u00a0have collaborated with traditional media organizations to combat the spread of fake news on their platforms in Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, Kenya, and Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n<p>But if traditional independent media are going to fulfill their essential role, they need resources. In places where governments are placing constraints on press freedom, Western donors should step up to provide the necessary funding. Given the importance of a credible free press to both development and democracy, it is undoubtedly a sound investment.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-20590\" src=\"http:\/\/192.163.207.100\/~timesku1\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Adewunmi_Emoruwa.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" \/><span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong><em>Adewunmi Emoruwa<\/em><\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #008000;\"><em>An investor in African media startups democratizing access to information, including thescoopng.com and The Election Network, is Lead Strategist at Gatefield, a public strategy group.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In June, Senegalese President Macky Sall\u2019s brother, Aliou Sall, resigned\u00a0from his post as the head of a state-run savings fund, following public outrage over allegations (which he denies) that he was involved in corrupt oil and gas deals. That outrage was expressed via social media and on the streets of Dakar. But it was investigative [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20591,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","category-featured"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Africa Needs Traditional Media - TimesKuwait<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timeskuwait.com\/news\/africa-needs-traditional-media\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Africa Needs Traditional Media - TimesKuwait\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In June, Senegalese President Macky Sall\u2019s brother, Aliou Sall, resigned\u00a0from his post as the head of a state-run savings fund, following public outrage over allegations (which he denies) that he was involved in corrupt oil and gas deals. 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