Africa-Press – Cape verde. Good governance will always depend on a supervisory attitude towards a free and pluralist press, defended this morning the President of the Republic, José Maria Neves, who presided over the opening of the conference “More freedom and better democracy”, promoted by the Regulatory Authority of Social Communication, in partnership with AJOC and UNESCO.
According to José Maria Neves, the contribution of the media has been fundamental in the consolidation of the Democratic Rule of Law, such as the strong participation of journalists in crucial moments for democracy in the country, such as the elections, but also in the formation of an opinion increasingly enlightened public.
The head of state highlighted, among other aspects, a pedagogical and training journalism, with active participation in several important moments in the country, in the most diverse awareness campaigns, but also in shortening the distance between the country and its diaspora.
However, in addition to the advances, he noted, there are “some weaknesses in the sector”, which require reflection and analysis, with a view to finding solutions capable of responding to the constraints that the class suffers from.
Sustainability
Among these weaknesses, he highlighted “an excessive monopolization” of public space by state bodies, the financial sustainability of the sector, access to the advertising market, among others.
Stressing that many of the problems are transversal to public and private bodies, José Maria Neves stressed that “the fragility of private bodies actually prevails, often bordering on the limit of survival and impossibility”.
“Many of these bodies have been functioning thanks to their carelessness, daring, stubbornness, tenacity and resilience, trying to overcome enormous obstacles and constraints”, he highlighted.
Warning signs against freedom
According to him, for the private press, greater support from the State is essential, also aiming at the creation of a more friendly and favorable legal environment for the development and affirmation of the sector.
“For a long time we accepted that democracy, like freedom of the press, could be irreversible achievements and that they were not in danger. But recent phenomena, with a very bizarre understanding of what freedom of expression is, alternative truths, hate speech and other dangers, are very worrying warning signs that should deserve everyone’s attention”, he warned.
For the head of state, in a democratic country like Cape Verde, media professionals must be able to exercise their profession without any constraints.
“The problem of access to sources and the secrecy of justice has recently reached new and unusual proportions, which has caused some strangeness among the class, which interprets certain episodes as an attempt to silence and curtail the freedom to inform”, he underlined. , adding that these “noises” are real and sufficient to provoke a wide debate, with a view to clarifying the legislation, namely in relation to the Criminal Procedure Code.
The alternative, he stressed, is to change or regress.
Journalism under surveillance
The conference “More freedom and better democracy” was promoted by ARC, in partnership with the Cape Verde National Commission for UNESCO, the Cape Verde Journalists Association (AJOC) and was highly sponsored by the Presidency of the Republic.
The event took place under the motto “journalism under surveillance” and had contributions from the assistant secretary of state to the prime minister, Lourenço Lopes and from speakers João Pinto Semedo, president of the Constitutional Court, professor Vlademiro Furtado and professor and journalist João Almeida Medina.
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