South Africa says it is committed to press freedom

As South Africa marked World Press Freedom Day Wednesday, the country’s communications minister, Faith Muthambi assured South Africans that media freedom in South Africa is not declining. She expressed her government’s commitment to guranteeing a free press and the safety of journalists.

“As we mark International Press Freedom Day, we want to proudly inform the world that in our country, we are enjoying a complete free press, where journalists report without fear or favour. There is no journalist who is in jail for doing his or her work and as government, we want to reiterate that we will continue to defend and promote media freedom,” she said.

World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in December 1993, following the recommendation of UNESCO's General Conference.

Since then, 3 May, the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek is celebrated worldwide as World Press Freedom Day.

It is an opportunity to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom; assess the state of press freedom throughout the world; defend the media from attacks on their independence, and pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

Muthambi said pre-1994 the broadcasting system was characterised by inequality of access, language, cultural and educational programming and lack of diversity and choice in services and programmes.

“Media freedom is my right…media freedom is your right…media freedom is for all of us. Therefore, all of us have a responsibility to defend media freedom and editorial independence from any form of compulsion, be it political, economic or commercial.” However, she said the media should understand that freedom of expression means that there should be objective reporting and analysis which is not coloured by prejudice and self-interest.

“The media should also understand that freedom of expression means that we should all try to ensure diversity: diversity of content, diversity of sources of information, diversity of ownership and diversity of outlook and responses in our advertising industry,” she said. Minister Muthambi said the best journalists recognise their role as servants of the people, singling out sloppy or inaccurate reporting as one of the challenges facing the media industry in the country.

“As government, we don’t expect the media to accept information at a face value; our view is that journalists should always strive to write accurate and well-balanced stories. In a democratic environment like ours, where we are not yet a cohesive nation, we don’t expect the media to write stories that seek to promote hatred amongst citizens…but we need stories that are like glue that defines and unites South Africans,” she said.

Last week, South Africa announced that the communications ministry had licensed 140 community radio stations in the country. Most these, the ministry said, were already operational.

(Source: SAnews )