By Damien Glez<\/b><\/p>\n
Africa-Press – Mauritius. <\/strong><\/span>There were frowns all around as journalists marked the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May. UN Secretary-General Anto\u0301nio Guterres acknowledged that, over the past three decades, there has been progress in laws guaranteeing access to information. However, as many observers have lamented, both old and new ills continue to plague the industry.<\/p>\n Assassinations (55 journalists and four media workers were killed in 2022, according to Reporters Without Borders), harassment, arrests, kidnappings, a business model undermined by technology, and \u2013 this is the defining trend of the contemporary era \u2013 an avalanche of racy content, disinformation, conspiracy, propaganda, hateful diatribes, and counterproductive commentary that often drowns out quality content.<\/p>\n Africa is no stranger to this. Guterres denounced the attacks on press freedom \u201cin every corner of the world\u201d, even though \u201cfreedom of expression as the driving force behind all other human rights\u201d was chosen as the theme for the 2023 edition of this annual public holiday.<\/p>\n Reporters Without Borders noted a deterioration in working conditions in countries that are not directly threatened by terrorist aggression. In the 21st World Press Freedom Index that evaluates 180 nations, Senegal \u2013 a pluralist society \u2013 plummeted from 73rd to 104th in just one year.<\/p>\n An upsurge in verbal, physical, and legal threats against Senegalese journalists has led to fears that the right to information is steadily being eroded.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, the continent \u2013 especially its sub-Saharan regions \u2013 is described by Reporters Without Borders as \u201cthe new laboratory of disinformation and propaganda\u201d, especially in areas rife with conflict and security concerns.<\/p>\n Aware of these threats, 30 African and international organisations and media outlets have launched an appeal to the authorities of Burkina Faso and Mali.<\/p>\n This heterogeneous team is made up of various associations, press centres, federations, and other foundations; international media that are locally censored (France 24 and RFI); others whose correspondents have been banned (Libe\u0301ration, Le Monde, and our French counterpart Jeune Afrique, whose special envoy was expelled from Mali); and local press organs such as the Malian-based Joliba TV News or the Burkinabe Courrier Confidentiel<\/p>\n They issued a joint statement denouncing measures \u201clikely to jeopardise the fundamental right of citizens to be informed\u201d, with the complicity of \u201cinfluencers who play vigilante and do not hesitate to threaten journalists and opinion leaders with death\u201d.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.theafricareport.com\/306416\/press-freedom-is-africa-a-laboratory-of-disinformation\/<\/b><\/p>\n For More News And Analysis About Mauritius<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Damien Glez Africa-Press – Mauritius. There were frowns all around as journalists marked the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May. UN Secretary-General Anto\u0301nio Guterres acknowledged that, over the past three decades, there has been progress in laws guaranteeing access to information. However, as many observers have lamented, both old and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":31324,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[242,233,245,241],"class_list":["post-31325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-africa","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-mauritius","tag-mauritius"],"yoast_head":"\n