14th April 2014
By Stefanie Chernow

Ethical Journalism Weekly Roundup: April 15, 2014

EJN Special Event: Media Dialogue On Hate Speech In Africa

A two-day “Media dialogue on hate speech in Africa” will be held on the 17th and 18th of April 2014, bringing together local and regional media leaders and journalists, researchers, and others from the world of media to help prepare professional strategies that can turn the page of hate speech on the African continent. This meeting in Kigali, Rwanda is organized by the Africa Media Initiative (AMI) through its partnership with Media High Council and Rwanda media community and is held in co-operation with and supported by Ethical Journalism Network. Find the programme here.

Witness To Genocide: Rwanda’s Horror

What purpose did all those articles serve? Nothing, I fear, except, perhaps, to assuage the guilt that I still feel now for not walking up to the murderous troops at the hospital and shouting at them to stop; for not allowing young people running from the militia to climb in our car; for having been given a hearty welcome because I’m French by killers whose machetes were still dripping with blood; for failing to write from the start that we were witnessing a genocide, not just ‘inter-ethnic strife’, which is something that happens all the time in this troubled region of Africa. (via AFP)

A Reporter Revisits His ‘Shameful’ Coverage of Rwanda

Twenty years ago on April 6, the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda began. At the time, many Western reporters played it down as “ethnic warfare,” including Bartholomäus Grill, now a correspondent for SPIEGEL. He looks back with shame. (via The International Herald Tribune).

Election Coverage: Going Beyond Passions

It is not easy to be an ombudsman for a national newspaper during election time. Millions of readers have myriad opinions about who should win and what a newspaper should do to ensure that their favourite party or candidate occupy positions of power. I get letters that reflect a multitude of opinions. I recognise the desires of the readers and this actually proves my pet theory that newspaper ownership is never confined to the shareholders of the publishing company. Every reader who buys a copy of the newspaper has an organic sense of ownership. (via The Hindu)

Last Press Council in U.S. Will Close Next Month

We had a great 15-year run, and we helped a lot of people who were damaged by media malpractice. But the news media have changed tectonically since we began. The eruption of online digital news and information made our mission of promoting high standards in journalism much more difficult, if not impossible. How can anyone oversee a cyber-tsunami? (via Poynter)

Erdoğan vs Twitter

You can ban the Internet, but at your own peril. In Turkey, it also has the risk of turning you into laughing stock. (via Today’s Zaman)

The African Fact-Checking Awards

Are you a reporter or presenter working for an Africa-based media house? Has a report you published or broadcast exposed a misleading claim from a public figure or institution? These awards, sponsored jointly by Africa Check and the AFP Foundation, the non-profit media training arm of the AFP news agency, are the first to be set up specifically to honour the works of African journalists who expose misleading claims made by leading public figures and powerful institutions around the continent.

A winner, who will receive a prize of two thousand euros, and two runners up who will each receive one thousand euros, will be announced at a ceremony to be held in Africa in November 2014. (via Africa Check)


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Photo credit: Flickr CC Africa Renewal