Glamour and wahala

That about sums up the life and work of the journalist. Danger stalks his every step in every country. As Al-Jazeera points out in its campaign to free its reporter detained by the Egyptian authorities since 2016, “journalists are being targeted for only being journalists and performing their job professionally.”

They have always been; they will always be. Press repression – overt or covert – is a pretty old habit. It dies hard among rulers and their minions. The good thing is that journalists are courageous men and women. Their poor lot in the hands of the temporary lords of the political manors seems to pump up their adrenaline. And they gladly face danger. They struggle against repression and win the fight against the guns of intolerance, oppression and repression. However mighty the sword might be, the pen is still mightier. Halleluiah.

In this struggle, it is only fair that we acknowledge the remarkable work of the Committee to Protect Journalists, famously known by its acronym of CPJ, since it took on its first advocacy work in 1981, barely a year after its founding. The committee has become a troublesome louse in the lock of presidents, prime ministers and the scoundrels who hide behind the holy writs. Its frequent expose of the enemies of press freedom and, by implication, the people’s freedom, encourages journalists world-wide to perform their professional duty ethically and professionally. The people’s right to be informed and educated on matters that concern them has never been greater than it is in this age of great enlightenment. 

A group of US journalists founded CPJ in 1981 because they were increasingly worried about the plight of journalists in every corner of the globe who faced and face constant repressive measures. It is a non-governmental and a non-profit body. Its mission statement reads:

“CPJ promotes press freedom worldwide and defends the right of journalists to report the news without fear of reprisal. CPJ ensures the free flow of news and commentary by taking action wherever journalists are attacked, imprisoned, killed, kidnapped, threatened, censored or harassed.”

The committee has kept faithfully to its mission statement. Its work committee has not made the journalism profession safer in all corners of the world where repression is the rule rather than the exception. None would be that naïve. But if the committee did not exist, matters could be worse, much worse. It is good for journalists to know that there is a big brother watching over them. The committee has its antennae out and picks up every piece of information on the plight of journalists in all the remote parts of the world where the niceties of the constitutional right of the people to know is beyond the ken of those who do not feel bound by the laws of their countries. 

In December every year, CPJ releases the list of journalists killed and those who are in trouble with the authorities and are languishing in jail. And every year the bad guys exceed their sordid and detestable record. CPJ reported that 262 journalists were jailed in 2017, for, it bears repeating, doing their job. The committee says this is a record. Turkey, with 73 journalists in jail, exceeded its own record in 2016. China and Egypt are in the big league of press oppressors. China had 41 in the slammer and Egypt had 20 in its dark dungeons. Journalists in Iraq and Syria who tweak the beard of the authorities, can expect to be turned into mere disembodied statistics among the dead enemies of these repressive regimes. The committee warns that authoritarianism is on the rise throughout the world.

We are familiar with the CPJ annual International Press Freedom awards given to male and female journalists who distinguish themselves in the service of press freedom. This year, the committee introduced a new category of awards – its recognition of Press Oppressors. I was quite intrigued when I saw this last week. It is time to recognise the real enemies. Interestingly, none of the political fossils in Africa made the list. That is some food for thought.

The recognition comes in five categories. Each winner has a runner up. I can do no better than to list these press oppressors under the five categories. They are: 

1. Most Thin-Skinned: 

The winner is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. His runner-up President Donald Trump of the United States of America.

2. Most Outrageous Use of Terror Laws against the Press: 

The winner is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan; His runner up is President Donald Trump of the United States

3. Tightest Grip on Media:

The winner is Xi Jinping of China

His runner-up is President Vladimir Putin of Russia

4. Biggest Slider in Press Freedom

The winner is State Counsellor and de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar

The runner-up is President Andrzej Duda of Poland

5. Overall Achievement in Undermining Global Press Freedom

The winner is President Donald Trump of the United States.

Now, we know the real enemies of the press – out or in the closet. It may come as a shock to most of us in the third world countries that an American president would lead the global pack of press oppressors. Trump is a destructive politician. He is busy destroying the American social and political way of life and rolling back the press and other freedoms that are the hallmarks of liberal governments in the Western world. It boggles the mind.