Media Freedom in Africa: Myth or Reality?

Abstract

A free media is invaluable for the establishment of an enabling environment for the achievement of social development objectives. However, a free and independent media can only properly function in an environment where there are rights to freedom of expression and access to information. This dissertation examined the state of media freedom in Africa generally and Nigeria in particular via-a-vis the legal elements of media freedom. Specific instances of repression and violence against the media and individual journalists with impunity were x-rayed against the background of Global, Continental and Regional legal instruments in addition to domestic legislations advocating for media freedom. It was revealed that despite the existence of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights 1948, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, 1981, the Windhoek Declaration of 1991, and a plethora of other efforts which have clearly made provision for freedom of expression and of the press, the media across Africa is still far from being free. It was also revealed that this unfortunate state of affairs is a product of factors such as the continued existence of laws of the Colonial era such as criminal defamation, sedition, and insult laws in addition to a sustained culture of government control and regulation of media thereby engendering authoritarian tendencies introduced by the military and internalized by civilian administrations via overt and covert abuse of executive power. It was further revealed that the effect of weak economies which undermine the viability of a media dependent on commercial advertising opened up the media to editorial and programming influences that undermine their independence.  It was recommended inter alia that African countries should align their domestic legislations regarding freedom of the press by keying into the model law on access to information adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights in 2013. This would bring them in line with global best practices, while Parliaments both at the domestic and African Union level should intensify efforts towards completely eliminating the continued existence of these anti-press freedom laws in line with international norms.