The Congress of African Journalists (CAJ) held a maiden conference on “Covid-19 Impacts on Journalists and the Media: Building up To Face Challenges of Covid-19 and Aftermath” on 29 and 30 July 2020. The congress called on African Governments to end all attacks and violations against journalists covering the covid-19.
The video conference was hosted and facilitated by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ). The President of the NUJ, Comrade Christopher Isiguzo welcomed participants, introduced the programme, and pointed out the objectives and expected results of the conference.
The interim president of CAJ, Comrade Alexandre Niyungeko in the opening address, recalled the context and the motives leading to the founding of CAJ and called on all unions and associations to join the movement and to develop technologies to host such meetings more regularly in the future.
Speakers were Jonathan Rozen of Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Africa, William Oloo Secretary to CAJ, Sulemana Braimah Executive Director of Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Gabriel Baglo media consultant and advisor to CAJ, Abdulwaheed Odusile former president of NUJ.
The first set of presentations addressed “Organisational and Security Challenges facing Journalists and the Media during the Covid-1; the Impacts on Safety and Welfare of Journalists, Staffers and Freelancers; the Job Losses”. The speakers described the risks and ordeal that journalists were going through in many countries of the continent to report news, especially on the covid-19.
Thirty (30) journalists are currently in jail in Africa and some of them risk contamination by Covid-19, said Jonathan Rozen of CPJ Africa.
Comrade William Oloo, Secretary to CAJ, presenting the impacts on the media industry said about 10,000 media workers across Africa had lost their jobs since March, in lay-offs linked to the impact of Covid19.
The second set of presentations looked at the professional duties of the journalists to provide accurate information and fight disinformation, fake news and misinformation. They also introduced many challenges of access to information and the engagements with government officials and security forces in the field. It came out that the denial of the
Covid-19 by government authorities in countries such as Burundi and Tanzania, among others, generated repression and attacks on journalists covering covid-19.
The third set of presentations deliberated about the state palliative and support to the media and the future of journalism. Speakers emphasized that innovation and technologies would be instrumental in the new normal for the adaptation and development of the media and the welfare of journalists.
“The conference is a success, and the recommendations from the participants will be used to inform CAJ’s programmes on Health Reporting, Health Safety in relation to Covid-19, and alternative programmes for journalists and freelancers.” said the interim President of CAJ. “We call on partners to support our programmes to build skills of journalists in order to strengthen the campaign for the prevention of the pandemic” he added.
CAJ condemns all attacks on journalists and encourages the justice systems in the African countries to investigate and punish attacks on journalists and the media for exercising their work.
“The African Court and Regional Courts ought to take up cases when attacks against journalists cannot get local remedies, “added the Interim President.
