World Press Freedom Day statement
As we commemorate World Press Freedom Day, we in Southern Africa are at a crossroads.
The path towards a transparent, accountable, and secure future for our citizens is not automatic; it requires a resolute, sustained commitment to a free and independent press, which is increasingly under threat.
The past few years have been marked by a troubling regression in freedom of expression, a contraction of civic space and deliberate efforts to throttle independent media.
We are operating in an environment where the price of silence, the cost of inaction, is becoming dangerously high.
Across Southern Africa, the media landscape is a study in contrasts.
While countries such as South Africa, Namibia and Botswana remain comparatively open, they face mounting structural pressures.
Meanwhile, Malawi, Lesotho, Zambia and Mozambique occupy a fragile middle ground, where the space for journalism is inconsistent.
In Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Eswatini and Angola, we see restrictive conditions characterised by legal repression, intimidation and censorship.
In these environments, press freedom is no longer defined merely by overt arrests; it is being stifled by economic survival tactics, gendered harassment and the contested governance of online spaces.
We must recognise that the crisis facing journalism is not merely technological or a consequence of digital transformation; it is a profound market failure.
The invisible hand of the market consistently undersupplies the public good of independent journalism.
Investigative reporting that holds power to account often operates on shoestring budgets yet generates billions in public value through recovered assets and reduced corruption.
We must stop expecting innovation alone to save us.
Journalism requires bold policy interventions, tax incentives for subscriptions, zero-rated data for news, and whistleblower compensation to close this value gap.
Furthermore, we are navigating new digital frontiers.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has transformative potential to improve newsroom efficiency, but without ethical guidelines and local capacity, it risks amplifying misinformation and algorithmic bias.
Similarly, the expansion of digital surveillance, often under the guise of national security, has had a chilling effect on investigative reporting, undermining the confidentiality of sources.
We must also confront the routine harassment of women journalists.
The prevalence of sexual harassment, doxxing and gendered disinformation, both online and offline, remains an unacceptable barrier to participation in the media.
Institutional responses are largely inadequate, and this must change.
Southern Africa’s future depends on our ability to safeguard the foundational principles set out in the 1991 Windhoek Declaration and reaffirmed by the Windhoek+30 Declaration.
We call on governments to reject the regressive tide of restrictive legislation and instead embrace frameworks that safeguard the media’s autonomy.
If we fail to act, we risk the spread of news deserts across our region, where corruption goes unexposed and citizens navigate their democracies in the dark.
Strengthening press freedom is not a concession to journalists; it is an essential investment in the peace, development and security of Southern Africa.
Let us remain resolute.
The narrative of our region belongs to us, and it must be told by a free, independent and vibrant press.
Jeremias Langa
Chairperson
MISA Regional Governing Council
