Media Freedom Should Be Respected, Defended

The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)

3 May 2011

editorial

Tanzania yesterday joined the rest of the world in marking World Press Freedom Day. It was, to some extent, a day for reflection on which a very pertinent question came to the fore yet again: just how free is the Tanzanian media?

There is no denying the fact that the Tanzanian media is today much freer than it was in the first 30 years of independence. It’s a far cry from the days when information was tightly controlled by the State, and private media was expressly banned lest it “corrupted” the minds of the country’s peasants and workers.

Just how far we have come in a little over 20 years is reflected by the fact that no other country in East and Central Africa comes even close to matching Tanzania on the number of daily publications, which has shot up from two to not less than ten, the vast majority being privately owned.

Tanzanians are also spoilt for choice on the electronic media front, what with the dozens of radio and television stations broadcasting to every corner of our vast country.While huge strides have been taken as far as the number and diversity of the media are concerned, repressive media laws dating back to the days of single-party rule are still firmly in place.

The information minister still has arbitrary powers to ban any publication perceived to have violated the country’s archaic and draconian media laws, which are completely out of sync with the reality and Tanzanians’ aspirations in the 21st century.

Many state agencies are also still alarmingly intolerant and suspicious of the media even in this day and age of transparency and free flow of information.

A case in point is the threat by the Tanzania Information Services to ban newspapers that were deemed “hostile” to the government in the run up to last year’s General Election.

A free and responsible Press is key to a country’s socio-economic development.

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