Impunity and the Media

Charles Manga Fombad

The explosive growth of electronic commerce, combined with the rapid changes in the information, computing and communications sectors have had a profound effect on the world economy and the process of globalisation. For underdeveloped countries like Botswana, it has opened up many possibilities but also created new and complex problems. To some optimists, the digital global information age has provided an opportunity for the much-vaunted African renaissance, a chance for the continent to leapfrog over some of the enormous barriers of underdevelopment and claim a place in a post-industrial global economy. But there are others who see in these developments not only the further widening of the gap between the rich North and the poor South, but the possibility of a permanent banishment of the poor countries to the periphery of international economic life.

Edgar Gutiérrez

Los medios de comunicación acompañaron con mucho vigor los procesos de democratización que sucedieron a los conflictos armados en Centroamérica en la década de 1980. De ahí nace gran parte de su prestigio y confianza entre los ciudadanos. Sin embargo tanto la transición democrática como la transición propia que han experimentado los medios están encontrando en los últimos años limitaciones sobre las que es necesario reflexionar.

Djilali Hadjadj

On dit que la vérité n’est pas toujours bonne à dire et surtout pas à accepter. Il y en a qui cherchent à l’étouffer d’une façon ou d’une autre mais tôt ou tard, elle finit par percer, ne fût-ce que pour hanter notre esprit ou troubler notre conscience. Qui aurait pensé, même si beaucoup l’espéraient, qu’un jour il y aurait des témoignages publics sur la ‘guerre d’Algrie’, constituant ainsi peut-être le début de la guérison de la ‘plaie historique’ ?

Cees J. Hamelink

Instead of standing by and doing nothing, the mass media should intervene to prevent crimes against humanity. Cees J. Hamelink argues the case for an international media alert system to monitor media content in areas of conflict.

André Jacques

France invaded Algeria in 1830, establishing a colonial protectorate by 1914. French and European settlers, known as ‘colons’, were given land and steadfastly blocked political reforms that would have given native Algerians a voice in government in proportion to the size of their population. As a result, many native Algerians began to agitate for freedom from French rule.

André Jacques

Le déclenchement de la guerre d’ Algérie en 1954 n’a surpris que ceux-là, mais ils furent très nombreux, qui n’avaient pas prêté attention ou avaient voulu ignorer les massacres précédents de populations colonisées en révolte après 1945 : à Madagascar, au Maroc, au Vietnam, et déjà en Algérie (Sétif) dès la fin de la guerre mondiale. Les Français étaient tout entiers tournés vers la reconstruction, meurtris par l’occupation, désireux d’oublier la profonde division entre résistants et collaborateurs ou admirateurs du régime de Vichy, alors que comme l’écrivait Georges Bernanos ‘le monde fait la queue à la porte d’une nouvelle guerre.’

Kaitira Kandjii

Outlining the ownership patterns of commercial and community broadcasting, the following article offers information on the re-regulation of the broadcast media environment in Namibia between 1990 and 1999. It argues that ownership patterns do not indicate a transformation of historical imbalances in the form of black empowerment. The Namibian Communications Commission tasked with regulating the sector has no policy on how to develop and guide the broadcasting sector in the country. Formed under the pretence of an autonomous body, it remains an arm of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Information and Broadcasting. The lack of black participation in the black media industry is found to be largely due to lack of capital and interest in the sector. The emergence of community radio has also not provided the necessary opportunities and advantages to communities to participate significantly in the sector.

Philip Lee

La capacidad del Hombre de buscar Justicia hace posible la democracia, pero su inclinación por la injusticia torna a la democracia necesaria, escribió Reinhold Niebuhr, en una época menos conciente de la identidad sexual. Pero, ¿Qué ocurre cuando la democracia repetidamente hace caso omiso a la injusticia y a la impunidad que sustenta a esta última?¿Cómo pueden los individuos, aún poniendo en riesgo sus propias vidas, marcar una diferencia? El siguiente artículo reflexiona sobre el ejemplo dado por una monja mexicana, asesinada por sus creencias y su lucha.

Philip Lee

'Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary’, wrote Reinhold Niebuhr in a less gender conscious age. But what happens when democracy repeatedly turns a blind eye to injustice and the impunity that sustains it? How can individuals, even at the risk of their lives, make a difference? The following article ponders the example set by a Mexican nun, murdered for her beliefs and actions.

Jake Lynch

Responsibility in journalism is the theme of the following article, which explores the idea that news plays a vital role in the social construction of reality. Focusing on peace journalism, it argues ‘that news, as a process, is always already involved in the events it covers, and that the real choices are about the ethics of that involvement.’