Whistleblowers called for in Zimbabwe

- There is a lot of bad news coming out of Zimbabwe, and the state of the media in the country is widely criticised. But here is an interesting one:

A Zimbabwean newspaper have asked the public to submit incriminating documents that could unravel "wrongdoing to the economic well-being in Zimbabwe."

The Zimbabwe Times states: "We have created the forum as a facility for responsible and patriotic citizens to place such information in the public domain in the national interest. This forum is an avenue for civic engagement by Zimbabwean citizens in the rehabilitation of our battered nation’s economy through public accountability and transparency."

The statement goes on: "We hope to keep our elected officials accountable to us, the electorate they serve. Through the X-Files (the forum) we hope to create and maintain transparency, where there may be deliberate attempts to cover up the truth for illicit personal gain."

The newspaper insist that they consider qheque-book journalism (to pay sources for information) as a form of corruption, and state they won`t pay whistleblowers for any information: "Contributions shall be entirely voluntary and no payment shall be disbursed either for documents or for any tips for investigation into corruption." The uploaded files can be seen here.

- Zimbabwe obviously need more transparency in media and political processes, but I`m still not sure what to make of this.

Business-reporting training in Africa

An African body out to strenghten the investment climate on the continent have set up a journalism training programme in order to improve business, investment and financial journalism standards across Africa, according to Daily Monitor.

The scheme is a product of The Investment Climate Facility (ICF), a body focusing on removing business constraints across the continent. The reporting training programme is in partnership with the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

A group of 20 successful applicants will be invited to join the programme and undertake training in either London, Paris or Lisbon.

"This is an important project as it will not only increase domestic and foreign confidence in regional reporting but will also increase awareness of the importance of the investment climates for the future of Africa. We truly believe that financial and business reporting should be 'by Africa for Africa'," said Mr Omari Issa, Chief Executive Officer of ICF, according to Bizcommunity.com

China: a threat to African development?

Above: Mr. Chen Yuan (right), chairman of the board of the Chinese Development Bank and Mr. Matthews Prosa (left), South African governmental official, attending the opening ceremony of the first representative office of the China-Africa Development Fund in Johannesburg, South Africa, March 16, 2009 (photo: China View)

As trade between China and African countries have risen from US$ ten billion in 2000 to US$ 107 billion in 2008 and Africa supplies China with one-third of its oil imports, voices have been raised claiming China is a threat to African development.

This claim was challenged during a seminar on "Governance for African development" in Dekar, Senegal, earlier this month. The seminar was organised by the Research Centre on Social Policies (CREPOS) of the University of Dakar and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of London University, in partnership with the Mo Ibrahim foundation.

"There is a manipulation effect through the media which describes China's presence in Africa as a threat to good economical governance. It is wrong to present China as a threat," said Mr. Carlos Oya, lecturer in economic development policies at SOAS, according to afriquejet.com.

"China is not a big donor agency. It gives about US$ 500 million to developing countries, as against US$ 30 billion for the countries of the Economic Cooperation and Development Organization (OECD)," he added.

Other speakers at the seminar said that the link between governance and development is an issue all Africans should concern themselves with:

"We organised this seminar to discuss 16 themes on good governance and development," said Senegalese scholar Alfred Ndiaye, referring to the question of mobilisation of financial resources in African countries, local governance, modernisation and corruption.

More robust press freedom in Zambia?

Above: Journalists in Zambia reading a newspaper (Photo: BBC)

A new draft constitution in Zambia prohibits legislation undermining media freedom and administrative behavour threatening media development, according to IPS

The National Constitutional Conference (NCC), consisting of some five hundred representatives "from all sectors of the Zambian population", is set to have a plenary discussion on its proposals in May. A referendum on a the final draft is expected to be held by December.

"Separate provision is made that categorically safeguards the freedom of the media while clauses in the current constitution on freedom of expression are also retained", said Mr. Amos Chanda, Vice President of The Press Association of Zambia.

Other constitutional changes being considered includes a new electoral system, an independent electoral council and greater control by parliament over the government, according to journalism.co.za.

"The NCC is to date the greatest window of opportunity for the country to begin repealing, amending and enacting progressive legislation in tune with credentials of a rather robust democracy that Zambia has become in the last 18 years of plural politics," Mr. Chanda said.

Mr. Webster Malido, chairman of the national Press Freedom Committee, said that if this legislature goes through, Zambians will be able to get all the information they are currently denied, according to allAfrica.net

"Journalists are currently working under difficult conditions as they do not have access to important information", Mr. Malido said.

Participatory development in Ghana?

(Photo: Pernille Bærendtsen / Louder Than Swahili)

The President of the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) have spoken of the need of a more participatory model as to development and journalism in the country.

Mr. Ransford Tetteh, also the editor of the national daily newspaper Daily Graphic, spoke at a two-day workshop in Accra on post election conflicts in Africa, according to the national news site myjoyonline.com.

"Development is about people, so the people must be free to discuss and decide what kind of development they want. The new approach to development is information distribution, -sharing and -participation, media can only promote development if it offers the platform for two-way communication", Mr. Tetteh is quoted.

This is a different voice to the one expressed by state officials, blogged about in my last post on Ghana, a voice and policy which points towards more of a pure, old-fashioned modernisation approach to development and journalism.

Not that the idea of modernisation is gone alltogether in Mr. Tetteh`s arguement: "Every development activity is information-based or information related. People must be exposed to new ideas and new concepts and the opportunities provided for adopting the necessary measures towards development or modernisation", he said.

On democracy, Mr. Tetteh said: "the media keeps democracies viable by giving a voice to the voiceless, ensuring that a ruling majority can not trample on the rights of a minority, promoting press freedom is really about promoting human freedom".

There is a lot to be read about participatory development theory - an idea that points towards greater participation from the "subjects" of development - as opposed to the "imitation" seen in modernisation theory. Jan Servaes write about it in his book Communication for Development: One World, Multiple Cultures, where he scrutinises the different perspectives towards development theory in a historical context.

Media freedom in Zimbabwe?

Above: Alleged footage from a Zimabwean prison. (AP / Youtube)

A recent documentary by the state-owned broadcaster in South Africa, The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), reveals harrowing conditions in what it claims is a Zimbabwean prison.

The SABC claims the footage was shot over four months by prisoners with cameras smuggled into a prison at Beitbridge, close to the South African border.

Unsurprinsingly, Zimbabwe’s Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa has dismissed the documentary as fabricated: “What was shown by the SABC3 is not true. The SABC is lying. We do not allow cameras into our prisons. We have made investigations and found out that the footage is not from Zimbabwe but other countries,” he told www.radiovop.com.

Roy Bennett, the deputy agriculture minister-designate from the MDC, the opposition party in Zimbabwe, who spent a month in prison on sabotage charges before being released last month, called his experience harrowing:

"Those pictures (shown by SABC) are real, if not rather conservative pictures. The conditions in the prison I was in in Mutare were far worse images than that," he told Al Jazeera.

Having seen the documentary, a student based in South Africa posted a blog post on Newzimbabwe.com, raising questions around the ethics and law concerning the documentary, calling the actions of the broadcaster neo-imperialistic:

“Is it the prerogative of a television station, its editor, his reporters, and the directors to decide what is and what should or shouldn’t be the national agenda in a country of millions of citizens, all with different professions, some even more challenging than journalism which can be practiced by anyone even with just a three or six month diploma or certificate training?

Not in South Africa, not in England, not in Australia and certainly not in America will they tolerate anyone sneaking a camera into their jails without clearance from the correctional services department. Wouldn’t we all be rich if we could bug cabinet meetings; commit other national security breaches and sell the tapes, all in the name of freedom of information?

This is clearly an act of neo-imperialism through the media which has been used corruptly by the West to contain Third World sovereignty by disrespecting state institutions through criminal acts. In the interest of justice, and the rule of law, SABC, which generally is a good television station, should offer the world and the Zimbabwe government an explanation and a legal one for that matter, why it broke the law in a foreign country in the process of news gathering.”

I can`t say I agree with this "clearly being an act of neo-imperialism used by the West to contain Third World sovereignty". The blogger does however raise an important question, that of imperialism in media, but in this case I would happily leave all such notions aside. As long as the documentary is genuine, I`m not too bothered about any underlying motives.

It would seem that in the interest of justice, and indeed the inmates in these prisons, some of which is probably sat there in the interest of the idea of the same democracy the blogger above so defiantly is defending, SABC have done the world and Zimbabweans a service by revealing the state of Zimbabwean prisons. And you can`t unveil a wrongdoing by asking the wrongdoer for permission, can you?

As to the criticism raised by the student blogger, there is a lot to be read about what he seems to be pointing at, the imperialism paradigm in development theory. Colin Sparks writes about it in Globalization, Development and the Mass Media, where he scrutinises the different paradigms of development theory.

Srinivas Melkote and Leslie Steeves also write about it in Communication for Development in the Third World: Theory and Practice for Empowerment, abother text on the different paradigms of development theory.

Participatory journalism in Katine

Above: Alan Rusbridger, editor of the Guardian, explains his motivation behind the Katine project. (Youtube)

A lot have been said and written about the Guardian Media group`s Katine project.

The £2.5 million project is aimed at supporting development work in Katine, a rural sub-county of north-east Uganda. The work is carried out by the African Medical and Research Foundation (Amref) and Farm-Africa, and is funded by donations from Guardian and Observer readers as well as Barclays bank.

In an exciting new development of the three-year project, Guardian have given training to villagers in shooting video. By doing so, the villagers are able to report on their lives and challenges themselves.

According to Journalism.co.uk, Richard Kavuma, a Ugandan journalist working for the Guardian on the project and who was named CNN Multichoice African journalist of the year in 2007, stated:

“My own understanding of the media from the elementary classroom is that we are supposed to be the voice of the people. Especially those who do not have the voice to be heard. I see it (Katine) as an extension of what I was meant to be doing as the media.

“This project is bringing the voice of Katine to a wider interational audience - what they perceive as their problems and how they think the project is helping or not helping them.”

A similar participatory journalism project runs in Sierra Leone, through Network Movement for Justice and Development in eastern Sierra Leone. When launched some ten months ago, a spokesman said:

“Participatory video is a very good tool for marginalized people because it shortens the distance between grassroots-people, the voiceless and policy makers. It gives grassroots people the opportunity to tell their stories, which to me is very good, because when the policy makers hear directly the voice of the suffering, they will actually feel the pinch more than if somebody else comes and report on the matter. The camera doesn`t care whether somebody can read or write. All the PV (Participatory Video) cares about is whether the individual actually tells their story or not.”


Above: Slideshow portraying the Participatory video-project in eastern Sierra Leone (Youtube)

For more reading on Partipicatory development theory, I would recommend to read Colin Sparks` book on the issue: Globalization, Development and the Mass Media.

The book explores ways in which the media can be used to effect change and development. It traces the evolution of thinking from attempts to spread 'modernity' by way of using the media through to alternative perspectives based on encouraging participation in development communication.

Modernisation theory alive and well in Ghana

Photo: Brian Donkersley / travelblog.org

Journalists in eastern Ghana have been told to educate the rural population by the regional minister, according to this blog post from allAfrica.com.

The blogger cites the regional minister on that it is the "desire of the government to develop the rural areas, where the bulk of the country's wealth is produced . . . and that this effort "would be meaningless if personnel of the fourth estate of the realm (journalists) did not give much emphasis to rural reporting".

He continues:

"They (the journalists) should educate them (the people) on the importance of formal education, particularly that of the girl-child. The rural folks also need to know more about family planning and the need to abolish those outmoded socio-cultural practices that are inimical to their development". The quote is accredited to Mr. Mark Owen Woyongo, Upper East Regional Minister of Ghana, during an interactive meeting with journalists, radio programmers and TV-presenters "recently".

Abolish outmoded socio-cultural practices inimical to their development? I wish the author of the blogpost (or the regional minister) would be more specific in which "outmoded" socio-cultural practices he is referring to. Are we talking about hygiene or religion?

The blog post continues:

"He (Mr. Woyongo) urged practicing journalists in the region to give more emphasis on rural reporting, by using their pens to persuasively effect changes in the people's attitudes and habits. Mr. Woyongo, a journalist himself, said until the media informed and educated the people on these problems, diseases and squalour would continue to prevail in their lives. He asked journalists to consider themselves, not only as partners, but catalysts in the development agenda of the region".

- Pretty much the blueprint of modernisation theory, this. Just to explain the thoery a little bit:

According to Jan Servaes and his book Communication for development: One world, multiple cultures, the modernisation paradigm, the dominant development theory from around 1945 to 1965, aimed to transfer technology and socio-political culture of developed societies to "traditional" or "underdeveloped societies in order to facilitate transformation through mass media. It is deeply rooted in Western economic history, the central element being the metaphor of growth and the identification of growth as the central idea of development.

It was formulated under a different social, cultural, economic and political situaton to today, it was absoluted and intended to be transferred to the rest of the world. It aims to "bridge the gaps" by means of imitation between what is seen as traditional and modern, retarded and advanced cultures.

Daniel Lerner, another prominent modernisation theorist, identified two types of "mental structures" in his book The passing of traditional society: Modernizing the middle east.

One, the traditional and essentialy illiterate, was fixed and oriented towards stability and the past. It was embedded in a set of skills and pattern of emotions, which excluded the ability to imagine oneself as being in a different position from where one was now.

Lerner would say that the "modern person" would be capable of empathy, while "the traditonal person" outlined above would be fixed on status quo - and the past. Such societies were unable to develop because the population lacked not only technical skills, but also the future-oriented perspective that could lead them to work, save and plan for a better life.

Instead, they were satisfied to continue in the ways of their fathers and grandfathers. Like their forefathers, the inhabitants of such societies were content with various forms of dictatorial and traditional government. Contrasting this was the modern personality, which was literate, fluid, and open to change. It was mobile, in that it desired change, betterment and self-advancement.

During the Cold War, USA and USSR tried to expand their own interests to developing countries by means of development, The Marshall Plan and the Warsaw Pact being examples. The US was aiming for a replica of its own political-economic system, by doing so opening the way for transnational corporations.

Many developing countries saw the welfare state of the North Atlantic as the ultimate goal of development. They encouraged influence and support from IMF and other international bodies. They were interested in technology transfer, establishment of a centralised state with development bureaucracies for agriculture, education and health.

- Like Ghana does now.