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MISA
Press Freedom Award
The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) would like to
congratulate Professor Fackson Banda of Rhodes University for
winning this year's MISA Press Freedom Award. A Zambian Professor
of Journalism and Media Studies, Professor Banda is one of
the most outstanding academics of his time, having carried
out extensive research, written numerous reports, made presentations
on the media in Southern Africa specifically and Africa generally.
He has contributed immensely to knowledge on media sustainability,
media policy, and new media as well as the production of manpower
that is now serving various media organisations in southern
Africa.
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Under his leadership as Regional Director of Panos Institute
Southern Africa, he spearheaded the development of the Zambia
Community Media Forum (ZaCoMeF) and facilitated the production
of a book that looked at the use of Information Communication
Technology (ICTs) called "Into or Out of the Digital Divide" that
looked at the use of Internet within the SADC region. His interest
in the use of modern technology has enabled him to write and
publish on media related issues on the Internet and some of the
latest facilities on the Internet.
Between 2000 and 2001, acting as Executive Director of the Panos
Institute Southern Africa and in his own right, Banda obtained
an interdict from the High Court of Zambia to stop the ZNBC from
curtailing the televising of paid-for presidential candidates
debates. The ZNBC Director-General at the time was to confirm
the presence of political interference in the corporation's decision.
Despite obtaining a court order, the corporation refused to broadcast
the remaining live programme scheduled for transmission on the
eve of the 2001 local, parliamentary and presidential elections.
The State deployed the Zambian paramilitary police to enforce
this impunity, defying the rule of law. Even though the programme
was not broadcast, the very act of obtaining the interdict was
contributory towards asserting media freedom.
Prof Banda is not only an academic but he has been and still
is involved in various projects at the grassroots level. From
August 2004-2005, he was co-opted into the Publicity Sub-committee
of the Constitution Review Commission appointed by the President
of the Republic of Zambia in 2003. His job was to provide advice
to the commission on how best it could publicize its work, including
presenting a live television and radio phone-in programme entitled
Your Constitution. Through the programme Banda managed to take
constitutional issues to the people opening up the whole constitutional
review process to a greater and more informed public critique,
including raising questions about media freedom and independence.
Between 1991 and 2005, he conceptualised, produced and presented
various radio and television interview programmes, many of them
broadcast on the ZNBC, became some of the few examples of independent
broadcast journalism in the country, subjecting politicians and
other public figures to the kind of critical questions that epitomised
engaged citizenship.
Since 2007, he has been a weekly columnist on media issues on
the column – Media Discourse by The Post newspaper of Zambia,
a cutting-edge analysis of issues relating to media freedom,
freedom of expression and media development in Zambia.
In his insatiable interest for media responsibility and ethics
within the context of media freedom among media houses, Banda
became a founding Board member of the Media Council of Zambia
(MECOZ). He was secretary to the Council between 2003 and 2005.
In view of his distinguished career, Banda was in September,
2006, awarded the prestigious UNESCO Chair in Communication (media
and democracy), the first such academic honour to be given to
a Rhodes University staff member. Since then, he has also been
sitting on the Editorial Board of the Canadian Journal of Communication,
Editorial Board of Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies and
Board of Directors of ORBICOM – the network of UNESCO Chairs
in Communication, among others.
In 2007, he was commissioned by UNESCO to research and produce
a training manual on civic education for media professionals.
The manual, soon to be published, will be used in tertiary media
educational institutions that are interested in raising the skills
profile of civic journalists. There is a strong element of media
freedom as a human right in the document.
Between 2006 – 2008, he led efforts under the auspices
of the BBC World Service Trust and the United Nations Economic
Commission for Africa (UNECA) to developing a comprehensive African
media development framework. This work has resulted in a coherent
and comprehensive framework within which to argue for African
media development. It has also become a recognised framework
by many journalists, largely through his appearances and presentations
at high-profile gatherings, including the May 3 2008 celebrations
in Maputo, Mozambique, where he formally tabled the framework
for media development. Encapsulated in this framework is a strong
component on media freedom and independence.
In 2008, he was inducted into Honorary Membership of the Golden
Key International Honour Society at Rhodes University, South
Africa in recognition of excellence in teaching and other contributions
to media. Other notable Honorary Members of this student-led
society, whose membership is drawn from the top 15% high-achieving
students, include such distinguished figures as Roberta Bondar,
Canada's First Female Astronaut; Bill Cosby, world-renowned Entertainer;
the Most Reverend Desmond M. Tutu, Anglican Archbishop Emeritus
of Cape Town; and the late Ronald W. Reagan, Former US President.
Prof Banda has written several books including the Newspapers
and magazines in Zambia: A question of sustainability. Lusaka:
MISA-Zambia (2005), Elections and the press in Zambia: the case
of the 1996 polls. Lusaka: Zambia Independent Media Association
(1997).
This award presented at a gala dinner held at Centurion Lake
Hotel in Pretoria, South Africa on 1 Septembr 2008 , is brought
to you in conjunction with the Southern Africa Trust.
-Ends-
For more information contact
Werani Zabula
Programme Specialist: Communications and Media Development
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)
Tel: +264 61 232975
Fax: +264 61 248016
Cell (Botswana): +267 71640247
communications@misa.org/werani@gmail.com
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