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Media freedom is your freedom - SANEF

20 Oct 2008

“Media freedom guarantees your right to know what's going on in your country, and participate fully in the decisions affecting you. Media freedom is your freedom. Insist on it.” This is the viewpoint of the South African National Editors Forum (SANEF), which commemorated Media Freedom Day this past Saturday, 19 October 2008, with two events held last week in Johannesburg and Stellenbosch and the launch of The Extraordinary Editor - a handbook for media leaders. [poll]

19 October 1977 was the darkest day in the history of the media in South Africa. On that day, the apartheid state machinery launched a total onslaught on the media, banning several publications and journalists.

Says SANEF in a media statement:

“As a country, we have come a long way. We now have a democratic Constitution which also guarantees media freedom. There is no doubt that the media in this country is among one of the most free in the world. We should celebrate that. However, we should also remain eternally vigilant to ensure that our hard-won media freedom is not sacrificed on the altar of political expediency.
We have observed with sadness a clear movement to reverse some of the gains we have secured in promoting a free media. Some of the unfortunate developments include the passing by Parliament of the Film and Publications Amendment Bill. As SANEF, we have raised objections to certain clauses that impede media freedom but these have not been heeded. As a last resort, we have requested the President not to sign the bill into law. There is also the Protection of Information Bill, currently before Parliament. If passed into law, these two pieces of legislation will undermine the gains that the SA media has secured.
As SANEF, we are also concerned about talk in the corridors of power about setting up a Media Appeals Tribunal.
We are also concerned about the incitement of the population by certain leaders to regard the media with suspicion. While criticism of any institution is normal and should actually be cherished in any democracy, uninformed attacks on the media threatens the freedom of expression and the free flow of information.

As part of SANEF's Media Freedom is Your Freedom (MFIYF) campaign, on 15 October SANEF and IAJ the jointly hosted a Media Freedom event, where the editors' handbook - edited by Professor Guy Berger and Elizabeth Barratt - was also launched. The following day the handbook was launched at a Media in Africa event in Stellenbosch.

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