source:
Embassy of Sweden Dar es Salaam - News
May 3 2009
Tanzania could lead in Press Freedom - Article by Ambassador Herrström on World Press Freedom Day
On 3 May, the World Press Freedom Day, the following article by Ambassador Staffan Herrström was published in the daily Tanzanian newspaper The Citizen.
Today is the World Press Freedom Day – a day when we certainly have good reasons to celebrate achievements, not least here in Tanzania mainland. But it is also a day for reflection on remaining challenges and how to address them.
I want to take the opportunity to question and challenge three common misconceptions in the area of transparency and media freedom.
Firstly: Some people think that
secrecy is something that often lies in the interest of the state. On the contrary I would say that
secrecy very seldom lies in the interest of the state. Why? Simply because the culture of secrecy makes it possible to hide bad governance in the dark which makes individual gains possible for a few, but causes large damage to the common interests of all Tanzanians.
When writing this article I was encouraged to read the statement on right to information by the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs Mathias Chikawe in Geneva in March this year: ''
Tanzania is staunch believer in the freedom of expression and opinion as provided for in our constitution. We want to enact this law to give people more freedom of expression and access to information''.
I think this was certainly what the UN Human Rights Council
wanted to hear, not least knowing that there are still
outdated and quite "draconian" pieces of legislation in force in Tanzania –
twenty seven I have been told. Since there is now a legislative process ongoing on right to information and on freedom of media, Tanzania has a golden opportunity to set an example. Be bold, daring and radical. Make transparency the common rule and secrecy the rare exception!
Do it because it is the most effective way of making sure that the state is acting in the interest of its citizens rather than in the private interests of politicians or civil servants. Transparency is key for that control – and key for building confidence in society. Take for instance the issue of declaration of assets for public leaders. Without a high degree of public access to that kind of information such declarations tend to be less useful and effective. With secrecy comes also a culture of rumours, suspicion, mistrust and mistakes. That is unhealthy for any state and certainly for its citizens. Now, Tanzania could become a real champion in this area. Why not take the opportunity?
Secondly: A rather common view is that freedom of the press primarily is a freedom for media and journalists. It is not. It is of course most often used by journalists but it is a freedom that makes it possible for journalists to investigate and scrutinize and thus provide checks and balances to powerful forces – in the state as well as in the private sector – primarily in the interest and on behalf of the citizens. And it also provides opportunities to the same citizens to freely express their opinions and have them efficiently spread to others. That's democracy in day-to-day practice. Attempts to describe media freedom in terms of privileges to journalists are mostly aimed at creating arguments for restrictions – again in the interest of individuals in power rather than in the interest of ordinary cititizens.
Thirdly: Some people think that you need to have restrictive laws to fight unethical journalism and so called yellow press.
You don't. A self regulatory mechanism is a much more efficient way to combine freedom of the media with responsibility taking among professional journalists. This understanding and acknowledgement was clearly expressed by the Chief Justice Augustino Ramadhani in December last year spelling out the advantages with selfregulation and emphasising that free-will is superior to the use of force.
Tanzania has particularly good conditions for this since there is an independent and professional Media Council (MCT) already at work. MCT is known all over Africa and elsewhere for its respectable efforts of self-regulating the media practitioners to act professionally and ethically in this ever intricate multiple media context. Mediation and adjudication done by MCT on inter media disputes or disputes between individuals and media are excellent practical examples on how to deal with these challenges.
Now, Tanzania mainland has made major achievements in terms of increased pluralism and improved investigative journalism. I hope this World Press Freedom day will be used as an inspiration for even further improvements all over the country.
Staffan Herrström
Ambassador of Sweden to Tanzania