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Over the last while there's been a something of rallying cry for Africans to tell their own stories. But all too often proponents are more in love with discussing the idea than figuring out practical ways to make it happen. 18 Days in Egypt, a start-up that focuses on documenting the revolut...
When Daily News journalist Mamodou S Jallow reported allegations by farmers against a local chief last week, he was promptly detained, and charged with libel. Jallow has yet to appear in court, but could be slapped with a fine of more than $8,000. Press freedom organisations have condemned his t...
Poking fun at Islam is no Mickey Mouse affair. Egyptian businessman and Free Egyptians Party founder Naguib Sawiris has learnt this the hard way: after tweeting a picture of Mickey & Minnie dressed in conservative Islamic garb, his court appearance on blasphemy charges is set for 14 Janu...
The elected President of Gabon, Ali Bongo Odimba, doesn't like it when the self-proclaimed president, André Mba Obame, receives media coverage about his claim. His reaction is to shoot the messenger – or, in this case, shut the television station. By THERESA MALLINSON.
Journalism isn't a profession you get into if you want an easy ride. This has certainly proven true for journalists covering Africa in 2011, many of whom paid with their lives. Challenges in 2012 include covering ongoing conflict zones, election periods, and continuing the fight for access to in...
Jailed Egyptian blogger Alaa Abd El Fattah – known on Twitter simply as – made yet another court appearance on Tuesday. And, yet again, his jail time was extended by 15 days. El Fattah lived for some time in Pretoria, and THERESA MALLINSON spoke to his South African fri...
A great irony of the cyber age is the way it connects seemingly incongruous and anachronistic opposites in bizarre and unexpected ways. Now the ragtag though powerful Islamist terror group, Al Shabaab, is taking on the Kenyan army on the battlefields of… Twitter. By SIMON ALLISON.
It's called the African News Innovation Challenge, and it has $1 million to award in start-up grants. Anic, which was announced in October, and had its soft launch in last week, will formally launch in January. THERESA MALLINSON talked to project manager Justin Arenstein about the thinking b...
There are currently 52 journalists imprisoned in Africa, in nine countries. More than half the jailed journalists are held in that scourge of media freedom – Eritrea. The most disturbing news to come out of CPJ's recent report on journalists behind bars, is that the trend of imprisonin...
Sweden regularly tops the media freedom and transparency indices, and is one of the most politically stable, economically prosperous and ethically staunch countries in the world. MANDY DE WAAL speaks to Peter Tejler, Sweden’s ambassador to South Africa, about its rich heritage of open ...
On Sunday, three advocacy officers from Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe were arrested by the police. Then on Monday, the MMPZ's Harare offices were searched, and Andrew Moyse, the MMPZ project co-ordinator, was also detained. Although Moyse was released yesterday, his three colleagues are ...
Egyptian blogger and activist Alaa Abd El Fattah has been detained in prison on trumped-up charges since 30 October. An appeal on Monday for him to be released immediately was dismissed. On Tueday his wife and fellow activist Manal Bahey Al Din Hassan gave birth to the couple's first son, Kh...
Last weekend a demonstration was held outside the South African embassy in London to protest against the Protection of State Information Bill. While the event was judged a success, the response of the ANC London branch revealed that party divisions are as alive across the ocean as they are b...
It just had to come to this: the ANC is to start judging and classifying journalists. Not that we're surprised. No surprise that our shy and retiring character, STEPHEN GROOTES, has a strong opinion about it. And more questions, of course.
RIP Charles Ingabire.
In the early hours of Thursday morning, Charles Ingabire, a Rwandan journalist in exile in Kampala, Uganda, was fatally shot. The murder weapon? No less than a submachine gun. In fairness, it's probably too early to say who was behind Ingabire's death; still, it seems reasonable to assume th...
Last week's ruling by the Western Cape High Court means that Independent Newspapers is one step closer to gaining access to the Nel report (aka the “Rasool report”) from the ANC. What this case illustrates, however, is that – even given the provisions of the Promotion of Acce...
As global newspaper audiences decline, some media organisations are latching onto emerging tools and open-source technologies to make news more relevant, personalised, and 'hyper-local'. Investigative journalism is being reinvented and reporters are doing their jobs in unimagined ways. 'Data...
Do you think the Observer's claim is overstated?
The world’s oldest Sunday newspaper turned 220 yesterday. To mark the occasion, The Observer published a retrospective which included suggesting it saved Nelson Mandela’s life. A touch of hubris? By REBECCA DAVIS.
Cosatu, the Right2Know Campaign and the South African National Editors’ Forum have announced a coalition against the Protection of State Information Bill. Though loosely based, the coalition between the groups will pool efforts to lobby the National Council of Provinces and other parti...
The National Press Club continued its Black Tuesday anti-Secrecy Bill campaign with a noon protest outside Primedia’s offices in Sandton. The gathering of about 60 journalists remained firm in its resolve to keep on speaking out against the Protection of State Information Bill, while c...
There really isn't a place in South Africa that is as politically contested as the Constitutional Court is currently. Our political fights have tended to use Constitution Hill as playing fields. Recently this has started to involve the court itself, with the appointment of Judge Mogoeng Mogo...
Shaka Sisulu on the Secrecy Bill.
Today marks a week’s anniversary of the notoriously dubbed “Black Tuesday”, a throwback to the Black Wednesday of 1977 that saw the then apartheid government ban various publications and prominent journalists. But is the bill in question, the Protection of State Information B...
When Egyptians went to the polls on Monday, several journalists and bloggers were still nursing bruises and broken limbs after the crackdown on the media in the lead up to the elections. Others remained in jail. Seems the country's current military rulers are no better than the Mubarak regime ...
South African photographer David Goldblatt devoted many years to chronicling the iniquities of apartheid and bigotry. His decision to decline the Order of Ikhamanga reveals the veteran lensman has lost none of his appetite for highlighting injustice. By REBECCA DAVIS.
Over the last week, the fracas surrounding Mac Maharaj has been getting a tad repetitive. Journalist after journalist asked him directly: “Did you lie to the Scorpions?” and time after time he refused to answer the question, citing his rights under the NPA Act. Now that City Press ...
Presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj has had a rough few days. As well as being the subject of the Mail & Guardian's censored lead story on Friday, two days later the Sunday Times published a page-one story alleging that Maharaj and his wife received millions from French arms-company Thale...
Award-winning columnist Sipho Hlongwane writes for Free African Media.
Well, well, well. So now we know what Mac Maharaj so desperately doesn’t want us to know. Information wants to be free and all that. The president’s spokesman hasn’t exactly resoundingly refuted the allegations against him in the press. Am I the only one waiting with bated ...
So who's wearing black this Tuesday?
The latest news in the ongoing controversy surrounding the Protection of State Information Bill is that MPs will vote on the matter on Tuesday. The National Press Club has dubbed the day “Black Tuesday” and called on South Africans to don black as a form of protest; the Right2Know ...
This Friday's Mail & Guardian features a greatly redacted version of its lead story about a Scorpions' investigation of Mac Maharaj, after his lawyers alerted the paper to the fact that publication would contravene the NPA Act. The M&G is now seeking the director of public prosecutio...
On Sunday Egyptian blogger Alaa Abd El Fattah, who was originally detained by the military on 31 October, was sentenced to a further 15 days in prison. Sadly, Egypt's current military rulers seem no more tolerant of criticism than the Mubarak regime. By THERESA MALLINSON.
It was appropriate that Right2Know Gauteng's summit was held on the very day that the Protection of State Information Bill was, somewhat unexpectedly, brought back for debate in the National Assembly. This highlights the twin challenges facing the campaign: at the same time as working toward...
It’s looking increasingly as if, despite days of MPs “working nicely together”, the Secrecy Bill will become law this Parliamentary session – and almost certainly face an immediate Constitutional Court challenge. By THERESA MALLINSON.
The ANC recently promised that the Protection of State Information Bill would see further public consultation. As such, its re-tabling at the National Assembly as early as this Wednesday has come as something of a shock – particularly in light of Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe's so...
Six journalists were charged with terrorism last week, joining another four who have been similarly charged since June. The fact that most of them have already fled into exile is a sign of the unbearable difficulties journalists face in Ethiopia. By THERESA MALLINSON.
Liberian President Ellen Sirleaf-Johnson may be the flavour of the month in the international community after being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October. But her government's handling of dissenting voices during Liberia's election period has been far from peaceful. By THERESA MALLINSON.
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