Press freedom under threat in Africa

Press freedom declined in Africa and around the world in 2015, according to a new report by the monitoring and advocacy group Freedom House.
The worst clampdown on the African continent took place in Burundi, a Great Lakes nation where efforts by the president to extend his time in office beyond constitutional limits have pushed the country to the brink of civil war. There, journalists have been imprisoned, beaten and killed and nearly all independent media outlets have been closed down.

Worldwide, press freedom dropped to the lowest recorded level in 12 years, Freedom House said.
“Steep declines worldwide were linked to two factors: heightened partisanship and polarization in a country’s media environment, and the degree of extralegal intimidation and physical violence faced by journalists,” Freedom House wrote in its report released Wednesday.
Two African countries were named to what Freedom House calls its “worst of the worst” list based on overall performance. Eritrea was ranked fifth from the bottom and Equatorial Guinea came in eighth from the bottom.
Jennifer Dunham, the director of research for Freedom of the Press and Freedom in the World at Freedom House said that countries like Eritrea remain on the worst list because all private news outlets have been outlawed. “Where once there was a vibrant private press, key editors and journalist are imprisoned, some for several years and there is no law guaranteeing freedom of the press, I mean the laws are on the books but they are not in practice at all,” she said.

Source: VON News