“…My family, my friends, the international community, anyone that can help, I need your help in securing my freedom please. I live in fear of my life. I am scared…” These were the words fearfully uttered by the South African photojournalist detained in Syria, Shiraaz Mohamed. When I first saw the video in the news while in my own newsroom four days ago, it instantly struck me that the truth is scary and rather than face it, some will do anything to ensure it stays buried. Aren’t I glad I am a part of a people that are constantly seeking it no matter the cost.
Photojournalism is the career path that led me into the media space. Much like Mohamed, I too wanted to go to the places where no one wanted to go and tell the stories of forgotten and neglected people. I didn’t think for a second beyond the fact that the people whose stories I wanted to tell may not even be allowed to read the those stories due to media censorship or that there would be resistance to me telling those stories. These are the facts that Mohamed was met with when he was arrested in 2017 for attempting to tell the tragic story of the Syrian people through photography. He bravely and boldly did so in a country considered an unbearable and one of the worst countries for a journalist, the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) website says.
Growing up in democratic South Africa has allowed me take freedom of the press for granted. Our fellow neighbours in Zimbabwe were just earlier this year faced with an Internet shutdown to restrain protests again fuel hikes. Further north, Sudanese journalists were faced with detention, and news houses reporting on Omar Al-Bashir’s ousting were raided with their newspapers confiscated by the army. Not too far from Sudan, is Somalia, which is the worst country in African for journalists, according to the World Press Freedom Index.
While I may be quick to compare South Africa’s press freedom with the continent, it wasn’t always like this, so we celebrate small victories. Today the media enjoys the freedoms of writing about our leaders and the system over which they govern, criticizing them to no end, without facing the worst of consequences. Over 25 years ago, journalists would have found themselves detained, and their media houses shut down or censored if they went against the white minority rule of the National Party. With the upcoming elections where the public is dependent on the media for coverage and results, media freedom couldn’t have been more important to demand promised transparency.
Detainment and censorship are actions we often hear or read about our fellow African journalists who are, just as we did, fighting for our freedom. It is therefore important that we strive to fairly and justly tell their stories when they cannot. Having press freedom doesn’t translate into having it all right; we’re still learning, and growing from the changing world we’re faced with. We’re still finding our way through the age-old misinformation and disinformation (or ‘fake news’ as its notoriously become known) that has reappeared in the digital age. We’re also adapting to the changes brought about by social media, while dealing with the intimidation and harassment of journalists.
Many reporters risk their lives daily to ensure the truth to the public. Unfortunately, there are many that don’t want this truth to be revealed. When reporters speak truth to power, it stifles the further encroachment of the basic rights of millions of South African’s. When journalists stand aside to intimidation, South African citizens are spread further from the truth. It’s important that the media continue to fight back by speaking truth to power, and boldly so.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) Eight are a great example of this. The eight journalists said no when South African media freedom was under threat (not that it often isn’t). Former Chief Operations Officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng and his ailing board decided that the airing of violent protests encouraged other communities to follow suite, and would therefore be banning the airing of such visuals. When the SABC said no to Motsoeneng, they too, like the protest visuals, were gone.
When the eight said no to Motsoeneng and his board, they said no to the beginning of media censorship; a threat to democracy, one might even say. The Constitutional Court favouring the eight put into perspective that as fragile as our press and political freedoms may be, they are secured and safeguarded. An independent media and constitution that ensures media freedoms are factors to be celebrated when only nine percent of the world is safe for journalists to work in, according to RSF.
I’m fairly new to the industry, barely dipped my feet into it, but I can say for sure that I’ve found my people. Mohamed’s video reminded me that there are many out there whom we need to continue to set examples for, many that we need to continue to speak for, and all whose public interest we need to keep at heart. The truth can be ugly, and tough to face, but journalists need to be tougher. We need to be continuously finding ways to the make it easier to spread fact over fiction, difficult to allow censorship, and make it safer for journalists to ask the difficult questions that bring out the stories with the gut-wrenching truths. The world is changing, faster than we can keep up. The media has power and freedom (though fragile), and with power and freedom comes a great amount of responsibility. We ought to use it wisely, but always without fear.
To all media persons, happy World Press Freedom Day. As we celebrate our own, lets stand with those fighting for theirs.
