By MERGA YONAS
By Merga Yonas
“But the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it,” so said John Stuart Mill, Englishp and economist.
Thus, the typical evil towards freedom of thought, opinion and expression are censoring the media, harassing, intimidating, jailing and killing of journalists. Various analysts who were/are on the same line with Mill also share his view by articulating further that a free press is a courageous venture which challenges assumptions, question authority, seek truth - no matter where that search lead-to the highest corridors of power or even if it leads to death.
When African journalists met in the capital of the newly independent state of Namibia in 1991, the social and political excitement that was sweeping much of the world in the wake of the Cold War had spread to the African Continent. Despite the toll taken by the multiple conflicts that ravaged the region in the previous decade, there was a sense of hope, expectation and a strong will among civil society to grasp this moment to craft a new future.
The Windhoek Declaration - a statement of press freedom principles - was inspired by the then global move towards democratization and the recognition that an independent, pluralistic and unfettered media was indispensable for the future of every nation aspiring to democracy and social equity. It has been 20 years since this landmark declaration was produced by mainly newspaper journalists.
Whilst there have been important advances for press freedom on the African continent and elsewhere in the world, far too many restrictions continue to exist in the form of censorship, lack of access to public information and harassment, intimidation and outright attacks on journalists, which hinder press freedom and thwart economic and political development in far too many countries.
Indeed, several countries are generating a climate of fear for journalists which are lingering as monster impediment to carry out their profession to date. The World Press Freedom Day, which was celebrated on May 3, 2011with the theme of “21th Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers”, once again vowed to promote freedom of expression as the foundation for human dignity and the cornerstone of democracy.
Yet, what was sounded here in Ethiopia to celebrate the day was fully took the latter stated direction. It was Tuesday morning that over 160 people gathered at the Addis Ababa Hilton to observe the World Press Freedom Day, and to commemorate the 20-year journey of the private press in Ethiopia. The event was organized by the Horn of Africa Press Institute (HAPI), the Ethiopian Environmental Journalists Association (EEJA), and the Ethiopian National Journalists Union (ENJU). It is also backed by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in collaboration with the Office for Government Communications Affairs of Ethiopia (OGCA) under the theme “21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers” as set by UNESCO. This international phenomenon was marred by hurdles in the Ethiopian scene from the get go, however.
According to various media and observers during the meeting, the drama began to unfold with the belated start of the activities one hour later. The delay was due to discords that arose between the organizers (HAPI, EEJA and ENJU) and government representatives over the schedule of events the former had developed in cooperation with UNESCO. OGCA had given the organizers orders to alter the schedule one day prior to the day of the event, which the organizers deemed unjust, and hence rejected, for reasons of inadequate time and the connotation of censorship it carried, they had rationalized.
Subsequently, the event started with the original schedule, albeit late, with addresses by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and African Union Chairperson Jean Ping through their representatives. Also represented was OGCA. Bereket Simon, head of the office with a ministerial portfolio, through his deputy Shimeles Kemal, delivered a message. Following these messages, not swallowing the organizers’ move, government reps tried to distribute their own set of programs for the rundown of events they had in mind.
The completely different proceedings from what the schedule stipulated were befuddling to the participants of the event.
This was particularly evident when participants that had no prior engagement with the presentations for the event – the Ethiopian Broadcast Authority (EBA) director and Ethiopian Journalists Association chairman –were asked to take to the stage and they openly stated to all gathered that they were not ready for such an undertaking.
According to the original schedule, after the messages from the UN, AU and OGCA were heard, Mimi Sebhatu, the managing executive of Zami FM 90.7 radio station was to set a discussion agenda on the topic “Media for public use,” and the discussion was to be moderated by EJA chairman Meseret Atalay. The government-plotted schedule that obviously was cooked behind the stage curtains bundled three presenters into this time slot and appointed Biruk Kebede as the moderator. EBA director Desta Tesfaye and Meseret of EJA joined Mimi in the presentation and they began talking about how to build a nation with sustainable development and public interest. Upon the completion of the “presentation,” most in attendance and the moderator found themselves in argument on whether to go on with paper presentations or carry on with discussions on the previous one.
Finally, upon insistence by the moderator, discussions ensued until a tea break period at around 11:00 am.
Scheduled to be presented was the paper titled after the UNESCO theme for this year’s marking of the freedom of press by HAPI director Amare Aregawi and the presentation and following discussions were to be moderated by Emrakeb Assefa, educator at Addis Ababa University and University president’s office public relations officer.
A request by Amare to Biruk to bow out and let the event carry on as scheduled was met by resistance from Biruk saying he was to moderate the whole event – according to the doctored schedule he claimed to be guided by, and seemed to be the only one to be carrying.
The original program had allotted the time after a lunch break for a presentation on the media business in Ethiopia to be presented by Tamrat Gebregiorgis, managing editor of a local business newspaper Fortune, and to be moderated by managing editor of Awramba Times newspaper Dawit Kebede. However, this proceeding was not acceptable to the government officials who had removed Dawit as the moderator on their version of the schedule for the afternoon. This program, distributed to attendees around noon, also abridged Amare’s presentation only to an overview of the 20 years journey of the local media scene – contrary to the UNESCO set theme. The last minute schedule designated Shimeles Kemal – OGCA second lieutenant; Gebremedhin Simon (PhD), dean of the school of journalism and communications at AAU and Amare Aregawi as the co-presenters of the renamed paper.
Although one of the organizers, Ethiopian National Journalists Union president, Anteneh Abraham, was presented with the honor of making a welcome keynote address, he declined alleging the original schedule was a fraud, much to the dismay of many in attendance.
“Sneaking a program prepared backstage to such an event is contempt matched only by its appalling character,” one participant told The Reporter on conditions of anonymity in expressing his thoughts on government media and officials contending to run the show. “Its outcome, especially in this age of digital media age where social media is fueling revolutions shall paint negative pictures of Ethiopia the world around.”
An Ethiopian observance of World Press Freedom Day was marred Tuesday by a walkout of independent journalists after a dispute with a rival group of state-run media employees, Voice of America (VOA) noted. According to VOA, the meeting was organized as a conference on critical topics of interest to Ethiopian journalists. But before the meeting began, staff members of Addis Ababa’s private newspapers were grumbling that the discussions were being hijacked.
“It’s a disgrace as a nation – at least on my part,” Gebru Gebremariam, member of the opposition party, Medrek, said. “It was a day of sabotage [by the government] and sitting it out in the name of the press was something unbearable to my conscience,” he lamented, explaining why he opted to walk out.
“The same group who is at the receiving end of the blame of stifling the press were attempting just that,” Dawit Kebede said, “even though they were invited to celebrate with [and by] the very organs they are accused of smothering.” He added that the day was a practical demonstration of the government’s attitude towards the private press – one that it showed these stifling powers contrary to what the day stands for.
Shimeles Kemal, describing the events to German Deutsche Welle radio service, said that it took place “with no problems.”
“It was Amare Aregawi who walked out,” he said, adding that the government took part in the event because it is a stakeholder in the matter.
Though reports released by independent sources as part of the day’s celebrations depicted the Ethiopian media scene as being a threat to free press, where Internet services and websites are censored, Shimeles described the them as false, rationalizing that there were no jailed journalists.
"The irony of censoring World Press Freedom Day will not be lost on the leadership of the United Nations, which has spent the past three days emphasizing the need for freedom of expression," said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. "By hijacking this event, Ethiopia has again put its appalling record of media repression on display for the whole world."
Tuesday's incident coincided with CPJ's release of a report ("The 10 Tools of Online Oppressors") that highlighted the Ethiopian government's tight control of the Internet. On that day, coincidentally, websites discussing political dissent and human rights--which are typically accessible only through proxy servers in Ethiopia--were suddenly unblocked, according to local journalists.
According to the joint message from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay and UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, they stated that, “Our times feature great paradox. We enjoy unprecedented opportunities for expression thanks to new technologies and media. More and more people are able to share information and exchange views, within and across national borders. This is a blessing for creativity, for healthy societies, for including everyone in new forms of dialogue.”
The following day, in observance of World Press Freedom Day, the US Embassy in Ethiopia hosted a video conference with Elizabeth Bryant, Paris-based American journalist with more than 15 years of media experience, where she has interacted with media practitioners and journalism students from Addis Ababa University. Unfolding the role of new media including Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, and the like in North Africa and Middle East, she has shared how these technologies are pacing in Ethiopia beyond the traditional media.
The participants have echoed that the government has created climate of fear for these new media not to evolve through blocking the cyberspaces. Let alone moving to that, regarding the other media, the regime has recently made 45 percent price increment on newspapers in addition to the jamming of the VOA, and Deutsche Welle (DW).
“At the same time, new threats are arising. In a context of rapid change, these combine with older forms of restriction to pose formidable challenges to freedom of expression. New measures to block, filter and censor information emerge every day. Challenges take different features, but they share the same face as violations of a fundamental human right,” the joint message from UN stated.
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