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Africa Media Review
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Press law
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- Description:
- The history of journalism in Nigeria has been influenced by the two major eras of British colonial rule (1895-1960) and indigenous military governments after independence on October 1, 1960. Both forms of governments enacted press laws at various periods in Nigeria's journalism history. This study compares and contrasts the variables that shaped the laws enacted by both the British colonial and the post-independence military governments, the intended overt and covert objectives of those laws and the reactions of the indigenous people.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- This article examines the objectives of the 1990 press law in Cameroon and the substantial changes it brought for pressmen who until 1966 were regulated by either common law in Anglophone Cameroon or civil law in Francophone Cameroon. It also examines the extent to which the objectives have been attained and the major defects of the law.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- The paper traces colonial legacies in Nigeria's press laws. Specifically, it traces the early antecedents of the Public Officers (Protection Against False Accusation) Decree No. 4 of 1984 and finds that it was modelled after earlier libel and sedition laws and the Newspaper Amendment Act, all of which criminalize free speech and opinion directed against those in authority. The study finds similarities in the motivations behind the promulgation of Decree No. 4 and those behind the earlier libel and sedition laws, i.e. fear of those in authority of criticism. Although Nigerian courts were reluctant to uphold individuals' rights of free speech and opinion shortly after independence, the study finds that later court decisions have found sections of the criminal code and sedition laws which criminalize free speech to be anachronistic and unconstitutional.
- Date Issued:
- 1991-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- This is a modest critique of the oppressive media laws in Tanzania, arising from the country's still-born socialism, which was adopted at the Arusha Declaration of 1967. The emperor worship syndrome characteristic of the first and, to a large extent, second generation of the autocratic presidents of African states, led them to muzzle the press and trample on their subjects' fundamental human rights like freedoms of expression, association, conscience, assembly and much else, is presented as the historical origin of a feeble press in the continent, including Tanzania. Taking Tanzania as the unit of analysis, the article argues that such undemocratic tendencies have no place in the modern world. The Tanzanian government is, therefore, invited to review its communication policies to make them more responsive to media development. The starting point should be the repealing of the obsolete media laws, to enable the media to play their adversary roles to the government objectively, authoritatively and independently. The paper then explores the various media legislations and concludes that the country has a vague communication policy which needs to be changed. In summary, the author philosophises and sympathises with the hackneyed view that there is no absolute freedom, therefore, in a way understands the limitations put in the way of the Tanzanian media by the new press bills.
- Date Issued:
- 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- This paper presents the government of Uganda's perspective of professionalization of journalism and the liberalisation of the media in the country. It is apologetic to the restrictions on the freedom of the press in Africa, for some unspecified conditions peculiar to African States. Some encouraging developments within the media industry, especially the liberalisation of the airwaves and the introduction of a degree course in journalism at the Makerere University, are discussed. However, the author mildly criticizes the suspect Media and Broadcast Councils whose composition are dominated by people handpicked by the Minister for Communications. The Media Council is empowered to license and discipline journalists and the media institutions. The question raised by many is whether the Councils are not merely a cathartic strategy by the government calculated to pacify an aggressive media that had started challenging the government's continued stronghold on the industry despite its claim that it's democratic. Whatever the case, as a watchdog in a democracy, the media's independence is critical. This is why the author is calling for a more comprehensive communication policy in Uganda. The paper raises questions over the wisdom of subjecting the Councils to the mercy of a government grant and some obscure "acceptable sources" for their cash, arguing that this will in the long run thoroughly compromise the independence of the two bodies. The paper raises the freedom of information provision, albeit with a grain of salt. It points out, for example, that the provision is contradicted by the Official Secrets Act, which make it difficult for government sources to divulge information to journalists. In conclusion, it ask the government to address the issue of media ownership in Uganda, using relevant statutes, with a view to making them accessible to the poor. To argue this case, the writer adopts the theoretical framework of the dependency theorists, who invites developing (periphery) countries to dissociate themselves culturally and economically from the developed (core) countries as the only means of achieving their true independence.
- Date Issued:
- 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review