Swazi Media Commentary: Freedom of Information

Showing posts with label Freedom of Information. Show all posts

Thursday, 19 March 2020

Media standards in Swaziland poor, need for wide-ranging reforms, report states

The media in Swaziland (eSwatini) need wide-ranging reforms but these will be difficult because of the kingdom’s ‘repressive political environment’, a new report found.

The standard of journalism in the kingdom where King Mswati III rules as an absolute monarch need to improve, the African Media Barometer (AMB) said.

It said there were ‘challenges with regards to accuracy and fairness’.

It said there had been some improvements in recent years but, ‘issues such as unbalanced stories, misquotes, exaggerated headlines as well as spelling and grammatical errors mar reporting standards’.

The AMB report was written by a panel of 12 people all working in Swaziland. There were five from the media and seven from civil society. They met over three days in October 2018.

In its report AMB said, ‘Another challenge is the skewed reporting of eSwatini society. The media do not always fairly represent all voices in society, including minorities. For instance, women’s voices in the media continue to be marginalised to a great extent while content continues to be male-dominated. Similarly lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) issues are not often covered by the media and when they are, they are reported in a negative way. Persons with disabilities are also marginalised both in news content and in the newsrooms.’

AMB also found, ‘Self-censorship and corruption, which are common in newsrooms, also affect media professionalism and the integrity of the news. Panellists pointed to the extremely low salaries combined with the poor working conditions of journalists as a cause of corruption.

‘Corruption is not only prevalent amongst the lowest paid journalists, but also occurs with editors and managers. The close relationship between the media and political or business elites contributes to corrupt behaviour in the higher echelons of the media.’

The wide-ranging 65-page report added, ‘Lack of ‘access to information’ legislation ensures that accessing public information is difficult. The Official Secrets Act and other cultural practices restrict the media in their efforts to obtain information and report freely on the activities of government. Accessing information for ordinary citizens, particularly those in rural communities, is not easy. In 2007, the government released a draft Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Bill, however, 11 years later, the Bill has not been passed.’

AMB concluded, ‘There is no doubt that eSwatini needs wide ranging media reforms. This could be achieved through a concerted advocacy effort by civil society organisations. However, over the years, the effectiveness of civil society has declined due to the repressive political environment and dwindling donor funding. The Swaziland National Association of Journalists (SNAJ) needs resuscitation to ensure its effectiveness. The Media Workers Union of Swaziland (MWUS) needs to be inclusive of media organisations including the Times of Swaziland, the only independent newspaper in the country. The recently formed Swaziland Media Consortium (SMC) made up of eight media bodies is a step in the right direction. The SMC operates under the Coordinating Assembly of Non-Governmental Organisations.’

Wednesday, 9 May 2018

SWAZI GOVT HIDES FROM THE PUBLIC

People in Swaziland cannot access critical information from government and there is no political will in the kingdom for this to change, a report on media freedom concluded.

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) said a law to allow access to information had been drafted in 2007 but had been ‘left to gather dust on the shelves’.

Swaziland is ruled by King Mswati III as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. Political parties are banned from taking part in elections and the King chooses the Prime Minister and government ministers. There are few opportunities in Swaziland for people to engage in free and open debate.

MISA in its annual report on media freedom So This Is Democracy? Said, ‘Swazi citizens continue to be deprived of critical information through lack of legislated access to public information, the lifeblood of national development.’

It added this violated the Swaziland Constitution which states a person has ‘freedom to receive ideas and information’.

Each year MISA in Swaziland investigates government departments and other public institutions to discover how well they share information.

In its most recent report in 2017 it named the Ministry of Home Affairs as the worst offender among many. None of the departments and institutions surveyed had a good record.

MISA surveyed eight entities. In a report called Transparency Assessment 2017 The Citizens’ Analysis of Government Openness it concluded, ‘There is still a lot of reluctance from officials responsible for providing public information to both members of the public and media practitioners.

‘Worse still, there are no clear lines of communication in most of these public institutions. Government ministries have hired information or communication officers but these public officers are paid for doing little in terms of providing information; they do not have the authority to respond to the queries brought to them. Only the Principal Secretaries in the government ministries are authorised to respond to the questions directed at the ministries.’

MISA added, ‘Information on the officials designated to liaise with the public and the media is not even communicated through the websites. The situation is the same in public institutions—they do not have officials designated to provide information to information seekers.’

It added, ‘The study results underscore the need for easing access to public information. It is high time that public institutions go an extra mile and prioritise information dissemination to the public and through the media. Government ministries should give the information and communication officers the authority to communicate information to the public and media because access to information is key to social, economic, political and cultural development.’

The survey is conducted annually and MISA said results of the 2017 study were little different from those of the previous years.

MISA Swaziland has mounted an access to information campaign in a strong bid to push for the passage of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Bill into law.’

Thursday, 5 October 2017

SWAZILAND STILL A SECRETIVE STATE

Swaziland government ministries and public institutions remain unwilling to share information about their activities, a new report reveals.

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) named the Ministry of Home Affairs as the worst offender among many. None of the departments and institutions surveyed had a good record.

‘Worse still, there are no clear lines of communication in most of these public institutions. Government ministries have hired information or communication officers but these public officers are paid for doing little in terms of providing information; they do not have the authority to respond to the queries brought to them. Only the Principal Secretaries in the government ministries are authorised to respond to the questions directed at the ministries.’

MISA said Swaziland, which is ruled by King Mswati III as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, needs a Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Bill to encourage public institutions to release information to the public and media.

The survey is conducted annually and MISA said results of the 2017 study were little different from those of the previous years.

In 2007, the Swazi Parliament issued a draft bill on freedom of information. The first objective of this bill was to ‘Encourage a culture of openness, transparency and accountability in public bodies by providing for access to information held by these bodies in order to enable every citizen to fully exercise and protect their constitutional right of freedom of expression.’

To date the Bill has not been passed.

In its 2017 report, MISA said, ‘Swazi citizens continue to be deprived of critical information through the lack of a right to access public information. This state of affairs is in gross violation of Article 24 of the Constitution which states that a person has the “freedom to receive ideas and information”.