In an opening speech which pulled no punches, O'Reilly stated baldly that the absence of press freedom in many African nations was inhibiting development on the continent and depriving millions of Africans of their rights.
He chose his audience well with President Thabo Mbeki seated on his left – present to declare the congress, which sees 1600 newspaper editors and publishers and other media meeting in Cape Town in an unprecedented media gathering on the African continent, open. This is in fact the second biggest gathering of WAN and WEF in its history – last year's event in Moscow attracted 1700.
Said O'Reilly: “In dozens of African nations, political transformation has been deeply flawed, if not stillborn, because of the failure to secure one of the absolutely fundamental conditions for full, living democracy and pluralism. I'm talking, of course, about freedom of the press, which continues to be violated on a daily basis across the length and breadth of this continent.
“This freedom, whose defence and promotion was set by the founding fathers of WAN as our first and over-riding mission, is not only a human right to which every African man and woman is entitled, but a pre-condition for the establishment of good governance and durable economic, political, social and cultural development,” he said. “It is also, I would contend, a powerful tool in the fight against corruption, famine, poverty, violent conflict, disease and lack of education – afflictions of which African people have much more than their fair share.”
Quipping that he was off Russian President Vladimir Putin's Christmas card list as a result of his speech in Moscow last year, and possibly off that of Mbeki's as well after today, O'Reilly asked Mbeki to ensure that freedom of the press was entrenched in the African Peer Review system of Governments in Africa. “The daily persecution and harassment of the free press must cease. But press freedom must also be much higher on the agenda of African development proposals and programmes.”
He also paid tribute to the 400 or so African journalists who made up the gathering, many of whom had faced persecution, torture and imprisonment on the continent in the pursuit of a free press.
Addressing Mbeki directly, O'Reilly continued: “However, that said, I would not be doing my duty here this morning, if I did not properly reflect the concerns of our South African colleagues, who are understandably anxious at the recent attempts here in your country to curb free expression and to limit open access to information and its dissemination, despite the guarantees of media freedom in your Constitution.
“I understand that it is only in the last few days – after eight months of media protests – that there have been positive signs that your Government will now make positive amendments to the proposed “Film and Publications Amendment Bill” legislation, which – if not amended – would have imposed unacceptable pre-publication censorship on newspapers and news broadcasters.
“That – Mr President – is to be welcomed heartily, and I think it is appropriate to recognise the constructive engagement between the print media and the Government, and we hope that engagement will continue. However, at the same time, the media here is still very concerned – and we share that concern – that old legislation which was used by the apartheid government to repress the free flow of information is still on the statute book, despite attempts for more than 10 years to have these laws amended or scrapped. We hope – Mr President – that finally the legacy of apartheid in all its guises can be eradicated and a free press in every sense of the word can be guaranteed.”
He also highlighted the tragedy of Zimbabwe: “Mr President – being on the southern tip of Africa admiring all that you and your country have achieved is inspiring – but alas, I must use this platform and must talk to the tragedy that is Zimbabwe today. Though conscious that it is a sovereign state, we hope – Mr President – that you will bring your considerable influence and abiding sense of justice to do all in your power to help rectify the flagrant abuses of freedom that exist in that country. We readily recognise that the Mugabe regime sees fit to discount any legitimate commentary from the international community, but we hope that a fellow African nation like South Africa can actively encourage real progress and bring normalcy and true liberty to that country.”
Giving a brief contextual overview of South Africa for the assembled dignitaries and international media contingent, an upbeat Mbeki nevertheless cautioned the media that they had to assume some responsibility, while quipping that O'Reilly would indeed receive a Christmas card as well as a Christmas present this year!
“Throughout our continuing change process, the Constitution, the sovereign force in the land, and forged with overwhelming support among previously warring parties, has been our constant lodestar, and – interpreted and protected by the tenacious and independent wisdom of our Constitutional Court – has given us the space in which to deepen our democracy. In this context, it is necessary for me to emphasise that the South African Constitution is there to protect the essential freedoms on which our democracy rests, and that, pre-eminently, includes the right of free expression – a subject obviously close to the heart of an organisation which annually awards a Golden Pen of Freedom and rests on firm foundations of respect for unfettered journalistic excellence.”
Mbeki emphasised: “Whatever genuine concerns there may be about those tendencies in the easy-access electronic era which can, including via the Internet, serve to endanger, deprave and corrupt people – notably innocent children and the otherwise vulnerable – we shall always weigh actions proposed to contain such forces against the guarantees of free expression as entrenched in our Constitution.
“At the same time, it is surely incumbent on the media to be introspective and to conduct itself in ways that will enhance and not undermine acceptable standards of public morality and good behaviour in a progressive and enlightened state. Though making up a proud Fourth Estate which is rightly opposed to any Government interference, surely the media also carries the basic responsibilities of citizenship.
“It is, I would suggest, important for the media to do various things to professionalize and perfect their craft, such as improving training methods, broadening the scope of specialist and in-depth writing and research, and retaining skilled and experienced practitioners within the profession. Even if there is the necessary chasm between the media and Government in the perennial debate about what constitutes the public or national interest and so on, at least the debate must proceed in openness and honesty. We do believe that both Government and the media are called on to act responsibly in a well-run state. This also applies to public relations, marketing and advertising interests that can have such a powerful influence in society.”
He also urged the media to tell the African story in depth: “Since this is WAN's first foray into Africa, I should like to extend the argument beyond South Africa and urge that the news media should – in whatever ways they think appropriate – tell the African story in as much depth and contextual detail as possible, and physically get around the continent identifying the successes and reverses so as to reflect what is really happening on the ground.
“Our continent has not escaped the effects of the tussle between media freedom and governance. There are some countries on our continent where journalists are in prison and this is worrying for all of us. African media workers and editors have been complaining about this, as has the African Union Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression in her reports.
“There is particular anger around what is seen as impunity enjoyed by some governments in their perceived or actual actions against journalists and editors. I am also aware of the feeling among African editors that libel and similar laws are used to deal with a media that is seen as uncomplimentary to the authorities.”
Mbeki continued: “The problem of media freedom around the continent is an important one as the media's role in informing and thereby empowering the people of Africa cannot be disputed. We note with appreciation the efforts underway between the African Union and the African Editors Forum to declare a year of African media freedom so as to mobilise public opinion around the important role media plays in development.
Mbeki announced that there were also plans for an annual day for media freedom as well as opening lines of communications between the political leadership and editors, where the plan was to institute the first debate between five Presidents and five editors in Accra, Ghana, in a month's time.
Mbeki also urged the media, particularly the foreign contingent, to look beyond the negative story that Africa so often became: “We in Africa can and do benefit from criticism, but we do ask that it should be based on accurate information and should be properly contextualised. We also know that the amount of foreign coverage in much of the world media has been dropping over the years. For instance, the December 2006 issue of the publication, Global Journalist, says the percentage of front page international stories in the US media fell by 13% between 1977 and 2004. One might ask: have world events become less significant? The evidence also suggests that as the news media have transformed themselves to compete with new technologies, foreign bureaux have suffered significant cut-backs.
“We appreciate that there are limits to keeping many news bureaux running in a huge and geographically challenging continent such as ours. We appreciate also that, rather than have numbers of bureaus abroad, publications may very well rely more on single correspondents to cover regions.
“I suggest that you take a very close look at Africa and its promise. For too long we have seen a negative type-casting of the continent. Multi-party elections are now the norm in African governance. Ensuring peace and security in Africa is no longer the assumed province of formerly metropolitan powers but matters for engagement by Africans themselves. Peer review is becoming firmly established on the continent,” Mbeki concluded.
It is the first time that WAN has organised the annual meetings of the world's press in Africa, though the organisation has held numerous other events on the continent. It marked the occasion with the Declaration of Table Mountain, which calls on African states to recognise the indivisibility of press freedom and to respect their commitments to international and African protocols upholding this freedom and independence.
The Declaration of Table Mountain, approved on the eve of the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum in Cape Town, calls on African governments to release jailed journalists, abolish draconian press laws and recognise the importance of press freedom for economic, political and social development.
“In country after country, the African press is crippled by a panoply of repressive measures, from jailing and persecution of journalists to the widespread scourge of ‘insult' laws and criminal defamation which are used, ruthlessly, by governments to prevent critical appraisal of their performances and to deprive the public from information about their misdemeanours,” said the declaration.
The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 18 000 newspapers; its membership includes 77 national newspaper associations, newspaper companies and individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 12 news agencies and 10 regional and world-wide press groups.
