African Journalism: I

I envision this entry as the first in a series about journalism in Africa, or, more accurately, journalism in Ghana. I hadn't really expected to be a "journalist" here (I don't really think blogging counts). I was content to be a "student," occassionaly a "tourist," and perhaps even a "political scientist," but because of the people I happened to meet, I find myself being drawn once again into the journalism world.

But that world here is entirely different. "Community journalism" becomes an entirely different concept in a country where the biggest, most well-respected newspaper is literally run by the state. As recently as eight years ago, journalists had to flee the country to avoid arrest for writing anti-government pieces, and even now publications can be more or less destroyed by lawsuits filed by the government which charge editors with libel for writing against the party in power.

Today in Twi class (the local language which I am only sort of learning) we heard the remarkable story of our teacher who lived in Nigeria in 1999 in order to escape arrest by the military. He had written a story incorrectly placing the president at the scene of a beating (the man was in fact one of two look-alikes, if I understood his story correctly), and as a result, soldiers came to his house while he was away and took all of his books and papers, including his passport. He escaped through Cote d'Ivoire, and is now back in Accra. It sounds like a truly extraordinary story, especially to have taken place so recently, under a supposedly democratic regime.

Thoughts of a senior thesis on democratization in Africa are turning in my head, and the more I think about it, the more freedom of the press seems like a logical aspect to explore. I can see several visits to newspapers and radio stations in my future. Good thing I brought my tape recorder.