I made headlines in the Swazi Observer earlier this month (June 2008) when I said at a public gathering in Swaziland that we should not consider media workers at the state-controlled SBIS radio to be ‘journalists’ because, in fact, they were propagandists.
Last week I wrote about how Swaziland’s ‘traditional prime minister’ Jim Gama had threatened journalists with punishments that could include the death penalty if they criticised King Mswati III.
Now, I am reminded of a case that neatly brings these two topics together.
It concerns a broadcaster at SBIS who allowed criticism of the king to go out live over the airwaves.
It happened in August 2006 when, according to the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Swaziland chapter, management of the radio station were told by government to ‘toe the line’ or the government would be forced to ‘pull the plug’ on programmes that are ‘wayward’.
Here is the background, according to MISA,
‘On August 24 2006, the minister for public service and information, Themba Msibi, warned the Swazi media against criticising the king, instilling further fear into an already timid press which cannot freely operate due to a perpetually hostile environment that continues to prevail despite the kingdom’s new Constitution which guarantees freedom of expression.
‘The minister’s threats followed a live radio programme of news and current affairs in which a human rights lawyer criticised the king’s sweeping constitutional powers. Aired on the state broadcaster, the Swaziland Broadcasting and Information Services (SBIS), the human rights lawyer, Thulani Maseko, had been asked to comment on a visit by an African Union (AU) human rights team which was on a fact-finding mission to Swaziland during the week of 21 August.
‘In response, Maseko said that, as human rights activists, they had concerns about the king’s sweeping constitutional powers and the fact that he the king was wrongfully placed above the Constitution. He said they were going to bring this and other human rights violations to the attention of the AU delegation.
‘Not pleased with the broadcast, the government was quick to respond. Msibi spoke on air the following day to sternly warn the media against criticising the king. He said the media should exercise respect and avoid issues that seek to question the king or his powers.
‘The minister said his message was not directed only to radio but to all media, both private and government-owned. He said that in government they had noticed that there was growing trend in the media to criticise the king when he should be above criticism and public scrutiny.’
MISA continues, ‘A senior journalist at the radio station told MISA Swaziland: “Censorship is an everyday occurrence here. As a government medium, there is very little we can do. We just have to survive under the circumstances.”’
While we’re in the mood to ‘out’ SBIS for the propaganda tool that it is, let’s remember what happened in April 2003 when Abednego Ntshangase became public service and information minister.
According to the Committee to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in New York, ‘speaking at his first official appearance before the House of Assembly, Ntshangase told parliamentarians, “The national television and radio stations are not going to cover anything that has a negative bearing on government.”’
Ntshangase warned that those who do not support government policies will be barred from broadcasting their views.’The ban on negative content was to apply to SBIS, which operates the only news-carrying radio channels in the kingdom, and to Swazi TV, the kingdom’s only television station. Both outlets are state run.
It was abut this time that Swazi-TV news director, Sabelo Masuku, refused to hand over footage of a protest march conducted by teachers, which the cabinet wished to scrutinise, and was fired.
‘Government can fire the news departments whenever there is a disagreement, but eventually they will run out of people,’ said Masuku.
He noted that the most talented Swazi broadcast journalists leave the country for more lucrative media work in South Africa and elsewhere.
See also
SWAZI KING THREAT TO MEDIA FREEDOM
No comments:
Post a Comment