EDITORIAL: Imagine a nation without the media
Police chief Joseph Shikongo this week called for improved protection of journalists, following two recent incidents involving New Era and NBC reporters.
Journalists and the media are crucial to ensuring transparency and accountability for public and governmental authorities. An attack on them takes away their ability to safeguard our democratic principles, which are the hallmark of our basic fundamental freedoms.
In 2017, The Washington Post adopted a new slogan: ‘Democracy dies in darkness’. This is recognition of the reality that democracy cannot thrive – or even survive – without an electorate informed with facts and truth by a free and independent press.
We are relieved to a certain degree that the recent attacks were not unleashed by state actors – which would have been extremely disturbing because of the power the state generally wields.
When government or corporate interests try to control or intimidate the media for their own purposes, it is the first step toward a totalitarian or fascist state. But in the end, the identity of the attackers is immaterial because the harm on journalism would be the same. As many writers have argued before, journalism is the canary in the coal mine for any functioning state.
An attack on the media should not be seen in isolation. It is also an attack on our nation’s democracy and the very foundation on which Namibia stands.
Journalists and the media are crucial to ensuring transparency and accountability for public and governmental authorities. An attack on them takes away their ability to safeguard our democratic principles, which are the hallmark of our basic fundamental freedoms.
In 2017, The Washington Post adopted a new slogan: ‘Democracy dies in darkness’. This is recognition of the reality that democracy cannot thrive – or even survive – without an electorate informed with facts and truth by a free and independent press.
We are relieved to a certain degree that the recent attacks were not unleashed by state actors – which would have been extremely disturbing because of the power the state generally wields.
When government or corporate interests try to control or intimidate the media for their own purposes, it is the first step toward a totalitarian or fascist state. But in the end, the identity of the attackers is immaterial because the harm on journalism would be the same. As many writers have argued before, journalism is the canary in the coal mine for any functioning state.
An attack on the media should not be seen in isolation. It is also an attack on our nation’s democracy and the very foundation on which Namibia stands.
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Namibian Sun
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