By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider
The M20 Summit concluded yesterday in Johannesburg ahead of the G20 summit which aimed to highlight the crucial role that journalists play in telling stories about injustices that are going on around the world. Also discussing journalistic safety and the rise of Artificial Intelligence when it comes to misinformation.
At the summit there were discussions surrounding the safety of journalists in today’s climate where journalists around the world are being impeded from doing their work simply because it could harm the interests of policymakers and government officials who may be involved with corruption and use any means necessary to silence the voices of many journalists.
“This is the case in Zimbabwe. It’s very difficult to practice journalism, especially if you are exposing corruption because right up at the top from the president, his ministers, they’re running criminal cartels which are crimming off tax payers money,” said Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin’ono.
“They loot public funds using the procurement system. And if you do a report you’ll end up in a situation that I ended up in where I was arrested three times and jailed three times inside 6 months for simply doing my work,” Chin’ono added.
The safety of women journalists in Africa is concerning, as they receive online harassment for being journalists as well as having a public profile, this was based off of a study in 2014 by Barton & Storm.
According to a study made in 2022 by Julie Posetti and Nabeelah Shabir, 73% of women have experienced online harassment via social media platforms such as Facebook and X (Twitter).
There have been reports of journalists specifically within Gaza who are being personally targeted because of their coverage of the conflict between Israel and Gaza.
Recent reports of journalists from Al-Jazeera and other publications were brutally targeted and murdered due to their coverage of the conflict.
This issue has grown exponentially, which has made journalists less reluctant to uphold integrity as major forces may be puppeteering what kind of news that the media is allowed to tell to the general public.
With the M20 Declaration being finalised during the summit this will be pivotal in keeping the safety journalists intact.
“I think the M20 is a good platform and many platforms like that are good and conducive for media practitioners because they are a reminder of the hurdles we still have to overcome going into the future,” said Chin’ono during his interview with SABC.