Blog Archives

Myanmar’s ‘Peacock Generation’ silenced as political prisoners being politicized

Posted on June 11, 2020 by Adam Bemma — Leave a comment

Three Burmese men wearing traditional blue longyis shackled at the waist and feet carefully step down, one after the other, from a police truck in Ayeyarwady Region – 84 kms from the commercial capital, Yangon. Armed officers lead Zayar Lwin,…

Tagged with: Free Speech, Freedom of expression, human rights, Myanmar, press freedom, Rohingya, The Peacock Generation
Posted in Print

Ethiopia’s “Terrorist” Journalists and Bloggers

Posted on August 14, 2014 by Adam Bemma — Leave a comment

NAIROBI, Kenya – A cursory glance at the headlines shows that Ethiopia has one of Africa’s fastest growing economies. But the noise generated by the hyperbolic international media is drowning out the critical voices. Political opposition is being strangled by…

Tagged with: Araya Getachew, Ethiopia, Fasil Girma, Feteh newspaper, Free Zone 9 bloggers, Human Rights Watch, journalism, kenya, Mastewal Birhanu, online media in Ethiopia, press freedom, state crackdown on media, terrorism, Transparency International, Zone 9
Posted in Print

Kenya: A Case of Media Mentorship in Africa’s Largest Slum

Posted on May 8, 2014 by Adam Bemma — 1 Comment

“The mentoring culture needs to come back to our newsrooms,” said Ernest Sungura, executive director at Tanzania Media Fund, while addressing journalists at the World Press Freedom Day Conference in Arusha May 3. The theme of this year’s Arusha conference…

Tagged with: BBC Media Action, Children's Radio Foundation, Ghana, Godwin Oyindo, human rights, KENSUP, kenya, Kibera, media development, media mentorship, nairobi, press freedom, Rotlinde Achimpota, slum upgrading project, South Africa, tanzania, Tanzania Media Fund, UNESCO, World Press Freedom Day 2014
Posted in Print

Stop Muzzling the Press in East Africa

Posted on May 1, 2014 by Adam Bemma — Leave a comment

World Press Freedom Day is every May 3. The theme of this year’s WPFD, hosted by UNESCO, is Media Freedom for a Better Future: Shaping the Post-2015 Development Agenda. In Arusha, Tanzania, journalists and media stakeholders from around East Africa…

Tagged with: #media, 1976 Newspaper Act, Article 19, censorship, Committee to Protect Journalists, crackdown on media in East Africa, East Africa, Erick Kabendera, HRNJ-Uganda, human rights, journalists, kenya, Kenya Information and Communication Act, KICA, legislation, media law, press freedom, Reporters Without Borders, Rosebell Kagumire, self-censorship, tanzania, Tom Rhodes, Uganda, Uganda Communications Act
Posted in Print

Journalists for Human Rights Face New Challenge in East Africa

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Adam Bemma — Leave a comment

Years of experience working with journalists in West Africa could not prepare Canada’s media development organization, Journalists for Human Rights (JHR), with what would happen next in East Africa. Written by a former JHR Tanzania media trainer. ARUSHA, Tanzania –…

Tagged with: canada, Chris Oke, Clouds FM, East Africa, JHR, Journalists for Human Rights, media development, media trainers, media4dev, Mike MacDonald, Mwananchi, newspaper, press freedom, radio, Rights Media, tanzania, Teri Fikowski, The Citizen, West Africa
Posted in Print

#PressFreedom in 2013: An Overview

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Adam Bemma — Leave a comment

211 journalists were jailed worldwide in 2013, following the highest number ever recorded the previous year: 232, says the press freedom group Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ. These statistics prove the state of press freedom around the world has…

Tagged with: #pressfreedom, #RightsMedia, 2013, a review, Al-Jazeera, Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ, Egypt, Ethiopia, IWMF, journalists in prison, Journalists killed, press freedom, Reeyot Elemu, RSF, Turkish journalists
Posted in Print

The New Payola: Brown Envelope Journalism in Africa

Posted on December 17, 2013 by Adam Bemma — 1 Comment

Payola is a bribery scheme made infamous in the American music industry, paying radio station disc jockeys to put particular songs on the airwaves to gain popularity and, ultimately, sell records. This ethical violation and illegal practice was put to…

Tagged with: Africa, African Union, anti-corruption, brown envelope journalism, cash for coverage, corruption, DR Congo, ethical dilemmas in journalism, Ghana, governance issues, kitu kidogo, le coupage, media ethics, media in Africa, Poynter.org, press freedom, press junkets, soli, tanzania, Well Informed Journalists Make Well Informed Citizens
Posted in op-ed

From Accra to Arusha: A journalist’s journey across Africa

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Adam Bemma — 2 Comments

Okay, I know it’s cliche to travel to Africa and expect to launch my career as an international journalist. But, hey, if it worked out for so many others, why not give it a try? Of course I spent six…

Tagged with: Ghana, South Africa, malawi, tanzania, accra, farm radio international, Arusha, #media, #RightsMedia, JHR, Journalists for Human Rights, Children's Radio Foundation, Zodiak Radio, ZBS Malawi, Sub-Saharan Africa, Adam's adventures, A journalist's journey, press freedom, journalism, RSF, Reporters Without Borders
Posted in op-ed