Media Watchdog Group says West Africa Has Seen Gains and Losses in Press Freedom
May 28, 2007
Washington 03 May 2007 |
De Capua interview on press freedoms mp3
Listen to De Capua interview on press freedoms mp3
De Capua interview on press freedoms ra
Thursday, May 3rd, is World Press “It’s a bit mixed. The media Foundation for West Africa is a Quarcoopome outlines the good and the bad. “I think that the level “And then, of course, The Gambia, which sticks out like a sore Of the importance of having a free press in West Africa, Quarcoopome
Freedom Day. For a look at the status of the media in West Africa, VOA
English to Africa Service reporter Joe De Capua contacted the Media
Foundation of West Africa in Accra. And spoke to Janette Quarcoopome,
the organization’s program officer, about the quality of journalism in
the region.
regional press freedom advocacy organization. So in that regard we have
a general idea of the situation of the media and press freedom in the
sub-region of West Africa. And I’m saying it’s mixed because of the 15
countries there have been plusses, but there have also been very major
setbacks in press freedom in the entire region,” she says.
of professionalism of the practice of journalism is fairly commendable,
particularly in countries like Ghana and Senegal, Benin and to some
extent, of course, Nigeria. So we do have plusses in that direction.
But in terms of the security and safety of journalists we have major
setbacks in Guinea, where there is practically no independent, private
media because the airways have been liberalized, in terms of
broadcasting, only as of last year. And even so, there’s practically
not a private radio station operating in Guinea.
thumb, in terms of the insecurity for journalists. It’s a head on
collision between the journalists and the government as it were. And
there’s a lot of persecution,” she says.
says, “I think that the examples in Ghana and in Senegal, particularly
during elections, shows that the role of the media is absolutely
critical in deepening democracy.”
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