The annual event welcomed nearly 500 professionals from Africa and the international community to debate the issues facing the future of the African media. This year’s theme, ‘African Voices in the Global Media Space’, encouraged journalists to expand their engagement with the globalised media environment and exploit ways of making a greater impact with their work, particularly in the international context.
In his keynote address at the end of the first day’s session, former Ghanaian President John Kufuor called for a repositioning of the African media and a more balanced approach to the way news is reported across the continent. “The Times of London and the Washington Post are not going to do this on our behalf,” he said. “It is up to us to tell the world our own stories.”
Issues of freedom of expression and access to information infused debate throughout the conference programme. Leading tributes to murdered Rwandan editor Jean Leonard Rugambage, who was killed outside of his home on 24 June, Mathatha Tsedu, Chair of The African Editors’ Forum, reminded delegates that despite the advances towards a free press seen in recent years many journalists are still paying the ultimate price.
The African Union’s Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression and Access to Information, Faith Pansy Tlakula, affirmed that while some countries are moving forwards in terms of guaranteeing a free press, many are still to see any significant improvements. “Some governments do recognise the need for a free and independent press, but others don’t. We seem to be taking a few steps forward and a few steps back at the same time,” she said. “There are countries that are doing particularly well, such as Ghana and South Africa, but there are many that are still enacting repressive laws that restrict freedom of expression and press freedom in particular.”
With the World Cup playing out its final stages, football fever inevitably spread to Highway Africa’s conference halls and seminar rooms. The tournament has been billed as “Africa’s World Cup”, with talk amongst journalists, organisers and speakers at the conference widely optimistic as to the positive effects the tournament has had in re-branding not only South Africa but also the entire African continent.
It was therefore fitting for the guest of honour, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, to reserve his appearance for the final night of the conference where he congratulated South Africa for showcasing to the rest of the world the continent’s overwhelming potential. He spoke to an enraptured crowd of the important role journalism plays in defending freedom of speech and ultimately holding power to account. "You, the media, have one of the most powerful instruments in helping our societies to value truth," he said. “We need journalists with integrity; we need journalists with courage. We need you to remind us of the ideals that have driven us”.
Archbishop Tutu spoke of his own treatment at the hands of South Africa’s state controlled press during the apartheid years. “In every cartoon they’d have me wearing dark glasses looking really rather sinister. You knew the day change had come to South Africa when they had me drawn with clear glasses.”
Stressing the crucial importance of an independent media as the essential ingredient for any successful democratic society, the Archbishop concluded his speech by endorsing WAN-IFRA’s Declaration of Table Mountain. Made at the 2007 World Newspaper Congress in Cape Town, the Declaration calls on African heads of state to repeal insult and criminal defamation laws and place a free press higher on the political agenda.
The many social challenges still facing South African society are not expected to be solved by the hosting of the World Cup alone, but it is certain that the legacy of the tournament will be felt way beyond the sporting arena. The country’s vast new infrastructure and telecommunications platforms, if successfully managed and maintained, should ensure more South Africans than ever before are connected to news and information services. Building on a groundswell of public enthusiasm and the newfound confidence gained from hosting such a successful global mega-event, it is hoped that the infectious “can do” spirit will change the world’s dialogue when it comes to understanding contemporary Africa. The assembled media at Highway Africa have the opportunity - and certainly the will - to rewrite the script when it comes to future stories told from the African continent. www.highwayafrica.com
Andrew Heslop