The Protection of Freedom of Expression in the Public Service Media in Southern Africa: a Botswana Perspective
| Date | 01 September 2002 |
| Author | Charles Manga Fombad |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2230.00402 |
| Published date | 01 September 2002 |
THE
MODERN LAW REVIEW
Volume 65 No 5September 2002
The Protection of Freedom of Expression in the Public
Service Media in Southern Africa: a Botswana
Perspective
Charles Manga Fombad*
This paper critically examines the public service media (PSM) in Southern Africa
with particular emphasis on Botswana. The PSM, which is considered to be one of
the key institutions that needs to be strengthened if the current transition to
democracy and the building of an open and accountable system in Africa is to take
root, faces many challenges due to its vulnerability to state control and
manipulation. After an analysis of the PSM concept and an examination of how
the public service media was introduced into and has evolved in the region,
particularly in Botswana, it concludes that this medium of communication, on
account of its reach, remains the most important means of disseminating
information, education and entertainment for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless,
it is argued that for it to effectively accomplish these objectives certain important
reforms must be carried out designed to disentangle it from the state and make it
more independent and accountable. It is made clear that the new PSM model
neither requires a public monopoly or public sector control nor that the state
should be totally cut off, but rather a new redefined role for the state. The new
model is built around at least five fundamental principles that should be crafted
into any new media legislation dealing with the public media which will ensure
public accountability, independence from partisan manipulation and a level
playing field for all political actors.
Introduction
The African mass media is widely considered to have played a crucial role in the
so-called ‘third wave’1democratisation that hit the continent in the early 1990s.2
Since then, there has been a dramatic expansion in political and civil rights on the
continent. This has been particularly remarkable in the Southern African region,3
ßThe Modern Law Review Limited 2002 (MLR 65:5, September). Published by Blackwell Publishers,
108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. 649
* Associate Professor of Law, University of Botswana.
1 This much-hackneyed expression was coined by Samuel Huntington in, Third Wave: Democratization
in the Late Twentieth Century (Norma, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991). Larry Diamond has
also referred to this as a ‘second liberation’, in ‘Developing Democracy in Africa: African and
International Perspectives’ .
2 In fact, the first African president to be ousted by the pro-democracy tide attributed his fate to the
media when he declared that it was ‘because of journalists that everything has turned out so badly’.
See ‘Breakthrough in Press Freedom in West Africa’, The Sowetan, 4 August 1992.
3 For the purposes of this study, this comprises of the following countries, Angola, Botswana, Lesotho,
Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
where the former bastions of apartheid, South Africa and Namibia, once classified
as symbols of human tragedy, have now joined Botswana as promising examples
of Africa’s democratic hope. However, achieving full and sustainable democratic
potential in these countries depends upon widening and deepening the institutions
of voice and accountability, which generally remain weak and deeply flawed. The
important role the media, particularly the public service media (PSM),4can play in
accomplishing this, and building a democratic ethos and a human rights culture is
generally acknowledged.
The wave of democratic resurgence also coincided with explosive advances in
communication technologies, the opening up of markets, liberalisation and
globalisation. Whilst the emerging new information society comes with promises
of an increasingly democratic global village, it also carries the threats of a new era
of domination and dogmatism.5The fact is that despite the unprecedented
developments in information technologies that have resulted in cable, satellite and
digital broadcasting and dramatic increases in the number of radio and television
channels, only the elites can afford these luxuries whilst the majority of people
continue to depend almost entirely on the generally free PSM. But the PSM
concept that was transplanted to Africa during the colonial period has never
worked the way it was designed to work in Europe. In fact, since independence, the
PSM in almost all African countries was taken over and controlled by the state and
used merely as instruments of propaganda for the ruling parties, rather than a
medium for transmitting the knowledge and information which people need to
make informed decisions.
Vulnerability to state control and partisan manipulation has been the Achilles
heel of the PSM in Africa. In Southern African, this is particularly problematic
because this medium has remained the main and dominant source of news and
opinion and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. Even in developed
countries, it is also widely recognised that the PSM will have a key role to play
today, more than ever, in the digital future.6This paper looks at the PSM in
Southern Africa generally, but focuses on the situation in Botswana in particular. It
argues that the PSM faces many difficult challenges particularly from the
competing and abundant alternative sources of information made available by
digital technology and may only survive if it becomes a credible and viable
independent institution that is part of the broader democratisation process designed
to render governments more transparent, accountable and closer to their people.
The information revolution has provided Africa with a chance to catch up with
or leap frog as it were, over some of the formidable barriers of underdevelopment.
An overall picture of the media scene in Southern Africa since the 1990s clearly
suggests some measure of a media revolution. The table below is based on
Freedom House’s survey for 2001 and shows a comparative study of the measures
of freedom amongst the Southern African countries covered in this study.
4 The term ‘public service media’ is used here to take account of the fact that the discussion covers both
the government-owned electronic and print media.
5 See J.P. Marthoz, ‘Freedom of the Media’ in World Communication and Information Report 1999–
2000. .
6 See G. Born and T. Prosser, ‘Culture and Consumerism: Citizenship, Public Service Broadcasting and
the BBC’s Fair Trading Obligations’ (2001) 64 MLR 5 664.
The Modern Law Review [Vol. 65
650 ßThe Modern Law Review Limited 2002
To continue reading
Request your trial