Tanzania
The East African republic of Tanzania places 143 out of 180 countries in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index (WPFI) ranking. This is 20 positions lower when compared to 2022’s classification.
The non-governmental organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF) publishes WPFI as an annual index rating of every country’s media landscape. The indicators of political, economic, and sociocultural context as well as legal framework and safety are shaped by a questionnaire and gathered data about all participating states.
Tanzania has fallen down significantly in the WPFI classification as it was ranked 34 worldwide in 2011–12. According to WPFI, the country has rapidly lost positions afterward because of former President John Magufuli’s authoritarian and hostile approach towards local media. The RSF website declares that Tanzanian media outlets and journalists that criticize the government risk suspensions, arrest, and even abduction, as was the case of a journalist in 2022.
The American non-governmental organisation Freedom House confirms this statement by providing the example of the 2016 Media Services Act which grants the country’s leadership broad authority over media content and the licensing of outlets and journalists. Citing the international human rights organisation ARTICLE 19, privately owned weekly newspaper Mawio was banned in June 2017 for two years under Section 59 of the Media Services Act. This Section allows authorities to “prohibit or otherwise sanction the publication of any content that jeopardizes national security or public safety.”
ARTICLE 19 presents other concerning instances in Tanzania such as the one of journalist Azory Gwanda who went missing after unidentified men took him from his working station and his whereabouts remain unknown until today. His colleague, investigative journalist Eric Kabendera, was forcibly taken from his home and imprisoned on 29 July 2019. He was later released seven months after being arrested.
A concerning fact is that there have been two cases of dead Tanzanian journalists in the last 11 years. According to the non-profit organisation Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Channel Ten reporter Daudi Mwangosi died on September 2, 2012 while performing a dangerous assignment as he confronted the police. The other case was Radio Kwizera’s reporter Issa Ngumba who was found dead on January 8, 2013 after he had been missing for three days.
Another major problem in Tanzania is the nature of the public broadcasters which, according to the database State Media Monitor, operate on the order of the government and act as its mouthpiece. They are thoroughly checked and the journalists working for them cannot report against the country’s leaders as they work for them.
According to BBC, Tanzania’s new President Samia Suluhu Hassan has begun to reverse the aforementioned trends and lift bans and suspensions of several major newspapers. Citing Freedom House, in February 2022, the government restored the licences of Mawio, Mseto, Mwanahalisi, and Tanzania Daima, newspapers which had received bans or suspensions under Magufuli.
Even though these positive signs are present, the country has to overcome multiple problems. Self-censorship, pro-government bias, and an unstable economy lead to the country’s low position in the WPFI ranking.
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Hary Dikov is a student double-majoring in Journalism and Business Administration at the American University in Bulgaria. He is striving to pursue the complete truth, regardless of how harsh it may be.
