Is the Press Free in Africa?

As the world marked World Press Freedom Day on May 3, United Nations Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon issued an otherwise unremarkable statement, predictably advocating for free and independent media across the globe. What stands out in Ban’s phrasing, though, is the understanding that it is a “fundamental right” of all citizens, in all societies, to have access to information that empowers them. To reflect on the role of a responsible and thriving press, and the struggle to secure it, is a sobering reminder of how compromised journalism remains in far too many countries and how much work there is still left to do. That’s especially true on the African continent, where a constellation of political pressure, government repression, cultural factors, and inadequate funding puts the fundamental right of a free press out of reach.

A man waves an Eritrean national flag as hundreds of Eritreans demonstrate in front of the African Union headquarters in support of the U.N. Inquiry report and asking for measures to be taken against Eritrea's human rights violations, in Addis Ababa, on June 26, 2015. Nichole Sobecki/AFP/Getty Images

On the African continent, the constellation of political pressure, government repression, cultural factors, and inadequate funding puts the fundamental right of a free press out of reach.

But Africa has some real bright spots. The Reporters Without Borders’ 2016 World Press Freedom Index report, for example, puts Namibia at No. 17, ahead of all African nations, Canada (18), the United Kingdom (38), and the United States (41).

While violence and other abuses against journalists weigh into the rankings, the index considers less obvious factors, such as the nation’s legislative framework, media infrastructure, and available tools, the diversity of viewpoints reflected in editorial decisions, transparency, and more.

Challenges in Africa’s Media Ecosystem

In 1991, during a conference in Namibia, journalists from across Africa put together the Windhoek Declaration, defining and committing to an independent, free, and pluralistic press. Since then, only about 30 percent of African nations have established press freedoms.

Even Namibia struggles, increasingly so in the past two years, with self-censorship within the state-owned media system, with laws that are often invoked to suppress reporting, and with violent and politically motivated attacks directed against journalists. Physical attacks against reporters in Namibia are not uncommon, including one in 2014 that occurred on-air during contentious elections.

Namibia's President Hage Geingob at the 70th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Sept. 29, 2015. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images