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In Defence of Press Freedom in Africa: An Essay /

When Africa stumbled into independence in the 1960s, the blossoming of newspapers of nearly every political persuasion was widely hailed as a critical stepping stone toward true multiparty democracy. However, rather than marking a clean break with an authoritarian past, the era of multiparty politic...

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Bibliographic Details
Call Number:Libro Electrónico
Main Author: Mentan, Tatah, 1948- (Author)
Format: Electronic eBook
Language:Inglés
Published: Baltimore, Maryland : Project Muse, 2015
Series:Book collections on Project MUSE.
Subjects:
Online Access:Texto completo
Description
Summary:When Africa stumbled into independence in the 1960s, the blossoming of newspapers of nearly every political persuasion was widely hailed as a critical stepping stone toward true multiparty democracy. However, rather than marking a clean break with an authoritarian past, the era of multiparty politics in Africa has been a time of increased hardship and repression for journalists who dare criticize powerful incumbents. Media repression continues to rise. After decades of retreat, authoritarian regimes are using social media and other sophisticated systems in a new era of repression to thwart democracy and trample human rights. For consecutive decades, the state of freedom has declined - more people in more places face more repression. While systemic torture in war-torn Somalia and the return of a military dictatorship in Egypt captured headlines, there is also widespread, insidious and 21st-century style surveillance elsewhere with abuse or imprisonment or both of political activists. For the media to play its role as priests of democracy, Tatah Mentan maintains that media freedom must be rigorously defended as integral to the democratic way of life.
Item Description:Issued as part of book collections on Project MUSE.
Physical Description:1 online resource (94 pages).
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references (page 57).
ISBN:9789956762064
Access:Access restricted to authorized users and institutions.