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Africa's media freedom map: a depressing picture

9 Feb 2011

Free African Media. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? We think so. Most of all though, we think it must ring true. Sadly, reality's far from the case. In fact, the name has a disturbing undertone - it's not unfair to read it as an oxymoron. On the ground, journalists in Africa find themselves working in overwhelmingly unfree conditions. And the situation is rapidly deteriorating.

Africa's media freedom map: a depressing picture

Freedom House and Reporters Without Borders (RSF - Reporters Sans Frontières) are two well-respected international organisations that publish barometers of press freedom around the globe.

Freedom House publishes a world map of press freedom, with three basic classifications: Free, Partly free, and Not free. The map has a simple legend - green countries boast a free media, yellow countries are home to a partly free media and in blue countries the media is not free. A brief glance at the 2010 map gives a useful overview of press freedom in Africa. We don't want to scare you, but you've probably guessed it anyway: In the majority of Africa's 54 countries, journalists have every reason to feel the blues.

...Freedom House divides its regional reports on Africa into two categories: sub-Saharan Africa, and North Africa and the Middle East. Neither region scores well when it comes to press freedom.

Read the full story at www.FreeAfricanMedia.com.

Source: Free African Media

Free African Media is an initiative of The Daily Maverick team, in collaboration with journalists from all over Africa. With free, quality media and freedom of expression under attack from just about every corner of African reality, it's become more and more obvious that a concentrated, Africa-wide effort is needed to help the fight, and Free African Media aims to do just that. It will function as a platform dedicated to freedom of expression throughout the continent, as well to helping improve the overall quality of reporting, analysis and opinion Africa-wide. Like Free African Media on Facebook; follow on Twitter at @africanmedia and, to contribute, email moc.aidemnacirfaeerf@krow.

Go to: http://www.freeafricanmedia.com

Theresa Mallinson

About Theresa Mallinson

Theresa Mallinson has lived and worked as an itinerant writer, subeditor and sometimes teacher, plying her trade in such exotic destinations as Vaduz, Dubai, and Cape Town. But that's all changed since she became a journalist at the Daily Maverick (www.thedailymaverick.co.za) and managing editor at Free African Media. For now, she's very happy to be living in Jozi. Follow her on Twitter at @tcmallinson and contact her on moc.liamg@nosnillam.asereht.