Africa Press Freedom Report 2009: Making Press Freedom a Common Good in Africa

According to the publishers, the International Federation of Journalists, press freedom is still in danger in Africa despite 20 years of democratisation. Independent journalism continues to be a perilous profession on the continent, both in the peaceful arena as well as in conflict zones. This report takes stock of press freedom violations with an emphasis on journalists killed, those who are currently in jail or on trial because they dared to inform, and those who are subjected to threats, intimidations, and attacks of all sorts.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)-Africa and the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ) decided to embark on this yearly exercise in order to improve the state of freedom of expression on the continent and to allow African citizens to open up and participate fully and effectively in decision making and in public affairs. The publishers hope that this report will serve as “wake up” call to the African Union, its institutions, the member states, and governments on the need to integrate the principles of freedom of expression, press freedom, and media development in their Peer Review Mechanism as important quantifiers of the level and quality of democracy and development in Africa.

The report contains the following sections:

• I – A Synthesis of Facts reported during the year 2009
• II – Analysis of press freedom violations by region
• III – Journalists killed in 2009: The Somalian hell
• IV – Journalists in Jail in 2009