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Media and democracy: Mutual bedfellows or political foes
Women's Institute for Leadership Development
October 16, 2012

Free press is a prerequisite of democracy. One cannot survive without the other, without democracy there would be no free press and without the free press there will be no democracy. They work hand in hand, the press is the guardian of democracy, and the democratic situation controls the press.

The former minister of Tanzania, Babu explains the relationship of free press and democracy as "A free press is the best guardian of people's democratic rights. Ideally it should be owned by the people, by cooperatives, trade unions, local popular authorities, or by a combination of press technicians, journalists and private finances and democratically controlled." (Babu 1992: 14).

In Babu's definition it is noted that the main factor that constitutes a free press is that it is free from government control. It should not be a mouthpiece of the government but should have the ability to report objectively and critically with the citizens in mind. However, it cannot be controlled by the government but it is controlled by democracy or the democratic situation.

Democracy is defined as the rule by the people for the people (Swant, 2000:24). Although it is based on majority as people rarely agree, the 4 elements present in any democracy are active participation of citizens in politics and civic life, a rule of law that applies to all citizens and most importantly the political system of choosing and replacing government through free and fair elections. This is the form of democracy common in Africa where a constitution is drawn up to guarantee the rights of citizens.

The term freedom of the press does not mean that the media stands on its own and throws criticisms at other groups but instead it means that the media assumes the role of the 'Fourth Estate of the realm'. According to the New African editor Baffour Ankomah (June 2008:11), the media or the press is embedded deep inside the state, helping it to function as designed by the powers that be. The powers that be are the elected government who would have effected a constitution.

The media can not act as the "fourth estate of the realm" without the support of the other estates of the state such as the executive, legislature and judiciary. The legislature should ensure that the media are not constrained by laws that are opposed to a vibrant and pluralistic public sphere. The judiciary also needs to interpret laws in ways that are not dictated by loyalty to persons in government but to the cause of democracy, civil liberties, and political freedoms.

The main features of a democracy include a political system of competition of power that is free and fair elections. The press should have the freedom to be the watchdog against rigging and other political unfairness and should be a commentator keeping the public informed. According to Waldahl (2001), Zimbabwe had not engaged in an election where the ruling party had strong opposition until the 2000 elections. This saw the rise of the independent press which supported MDC leader Tsvangirai.

The independent media gave a different view of the situation in Zimbabwe from what was being published by state controlled press. The independent media's support of the opposition party MDC created an oppositional voice to the propaganda in the media making the elections more exciting because for the first time after so many years there was strong opposition the government. The independent papers were the Daily News, Standard and the Zimbabwe Independent.

It is noted that the media in Zimbabwe during any election plays a role of loyal channels for a particular party or politicians enabling them to exert control over contents of political messages. It is noted that government controlled media were rooting for ZANU (PF) while the emerging independent press were more inclined towards MDC. The press in Zimbabwe has fallen victim to the power game between political parties. Amidst all this confusion, the media has been impeding on the progress of democracy by delaying and distorting information to the public.

However, African governments realise that freedom of the press has to be to a certain extent, unlimited freedom of the press becomes a barricade to democracy. Therefore are laws that were passed to reign in the freedom of the press. In Zimbabwe, Emerson Munangagwa is reported to have said, "Unrestricted [press] freedom would lead to disorder and anarchy and would harm social and national interests", therefore laws like Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act were passed and most journalists were arrested in accordance to the law.

In conclusion, the argument above stresses that the relationship of freedom of the press and democracy is interdependent, the two are not linear but are intertwined, one cannot exist without the other. The requirements of any democracy are the rule of law, elections and an informed citizenry, and the press however cannot steer away from those requirements. An unlimited freedom of the press can act as an obstruction to democracy. In fulfilment of the role of the press as a fourth estate is that it should not work in isolation but together with the other states ensuring sustainable democracy.

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