By: Megan Russell (Published 7/15)
Professor Kwame Karikari, executive director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) based in Accra, was recently appointed the 9th member and only non-South African representative of the newly formed South Africa Press Freedom Commission.
The group, launched Thursday July 7th in Johannesburg, was initiated by Print Media South Africa and the South African National Editors Forum as an independent investigative commission to look at the regulation of print media in South Africa.
“I feel very honored,” Prof Karikari said of his appointment, in an interview conducted with Public Agenda. “I am proud that the largest media industry in Africa recognizes that I have something to offer in promoting their self-regulatory system, and for press freedom generally in South Africa… What goes on in the promotion of democracy and freedoms in South Africa can influence developments elsewhere in Africa. If the Commission does a good and acceptable job, it may influence developments elsewhere in Africa.”
Prof Karikari believes that his nomination to the South Africa Press Freedom Commission “indicates that our South African colleagues consider the progress of press freedom in Ghana as something to recognize.”
According to their terms of reference, the South Africa Press Freedom Commission’s primary objective is to “ensure that press freedom in South Africa is in support of enhancing the country’s democracy which is founded on human dignity, equality and freedom.”
The former Chief Justice of South Africa, Justice Pius Langa, will serve as chairperson of the commission alongside member Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, head of the Cape Town Anglican Church. Prof Karikari was appointed to the commission to embody an international aspect of the group, alongside other professionals selected to represent faith, labour, business, marketing, law, and academia.
Recent cases of shady media ethics due to the abuse of the self-regulation system in South Africa prompted the formation of the commission, tasked with casting “an independent look at self-regulation of print media in South Africa.” To complete this duty the group has been asked to review the best and the worst press media regulation practices both globally and locally.
Recommendations for improvement are due by the end of March 2012 and will be published for both stakeholders and the general public in a document titled “The South African Press Freedom Report.” This paper will be used as a jumping-off point for making changes to the current South African processes of media self-regulation.
As the previous Director of the School of Communication Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon and also former director of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, Prof Karikari is active in his pursuit of social justice, human rights and democratic reforms. Educated at Columbia University in the United States, he has been known to speak out against politicians who own media institutions as a way to control their information flow. He serves on a number of boards for African and international rights organisations and also multiple editorial boards for academic publications.
Currently Prof Karikari is the Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), a regional, independent, non-governmental and non-profit organisation based in Accra. The MFWA’s work covers all 15 countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and also Mauritania. Founded in 1997, their aim is to both promote and defend and the freedoms and rights of the media and all other forms of expression. Prof Karikari noted that his nomination is most likely “a recognition of the work the Media Foundation has been doing in West Africa and Africa generally.”