Rob Jamieson and his wife Pushpa started their weekly The Chronicle in December 1993, at a time when Malawi was going through a period of political liberalisation, much to the relief of the subjects of dictator Hastings Banda, who had held the country firmly in his grasp since independence in 1964.
President Banda’s conservative regime had curbed the freedom of speech and of the press. After almost thirty years Malawi had only two newspapers, both owned by the government.
Key question
The atmosphere improved in the 1990s. “By 1992 foreign governments in particular pressed for democratisation and an improvement of the human rights situation,” Rob Jamieson recalls. “They threatened to stop development funding unless the government changed its tune. Banda was forced to assent to freedom of the press and to releasing political prisoners in order to retain foreign funding.”
At that time opportunities for starting newspapers such as The Chronicle abounded. Rob Jamieson: “Due to the pressure from abroad a referendum was held in Malawi. The key question was: Do you want the Banda dictatorship to persist or do you want democracy? Almost 90 per cent of the population of Malawi opted for the latter. Elections were called and political parties founded. It was a marvellous time, with lots of new opportunities for independent and diverse media.”
Mouthpiece
After the elections of 1994 the regime of Banda and his Malawi Congress Party came to an end. Bakili Muluzi, the leader of the United Democratic Front, became the new president. The new government worked hard to improve the human rights situation, but the censorship legislation from the Banda era remained in force.
Jamieson: “Many newspapers disappeared in the years after the elections due to high taxes on printing paper and advertisements and inadequate distribution networks. They couldn’t manage financially to stay in business.
So what happened? Parties and politicians started to shove money towards newspapers to keep them alive. As a consequence the press lost its independence and became a mouthpiece for certain people.”
Corruption
The Chronicle, disposing of sufficient financial means, was able to keep its independence as one of very few papers.
Today the weekly has to rely primarily on the sale of advertisements to private enterprises and human rights organisations, both at home and abroad.
However, the situation is becoming increasingly difficult as the government is the biggest advertiser of all.
“It is the task of The Chronicle to raise national awareness on issues that are being ignored by the Muzuli government,” Rob Jamieson argues. “We are playing the devil’s advocate. In our articles, we address issues such as corruption, which does not necessarily go well with some. Every now and then charges are brought against us by the government.”
The Jamiesons have no intention to give up The Chronicle. “People in Malawi appreciate our paper. We get a lot of positive response. We know for instance that every copy is being read by twelve people on average, so the coverage is considerable. Besides, we are not only being read in the cities, but also by people in the rural areas. Every week, we send packages to our connections there. When all is said and done we earn more from selling 5,000 to 15,000 copies of our newspaper than from selling advertisements,” Rob Jamieson explains.
Underground
It will soon be clear whether The Chronicle will survive. In recent years Rob Jamieson was able to keep the weekly running by putting his own money in it, but that will give out some time. It is his expectation that the sale of newspapers and advertisements will suffice to tide over the period until the presidential elections of 2004 at least.
What the media landscape will look like after the elections remains to be seen. “We hope that in 2004 a government will be elected which will stimulate independent media. I am not talking about printed media only. Malawi’s only television channel is owned by the government, and radio channels hardly have an effect on the content of the democracy either. In the case of opposition, broadcasting licences are simply withdrawn.”
Rob Jamieson, passionately: “Muluzi can keep bringing charges against us to the very end, but if The Chronicle disappears, the freedom of the press will be further undermined. It is imperative for one medium to survive to continue the fight; if need be, we’ll go underground.”
The author Marcella Bos studies journalism in Tilburg, The Netherlands.
Mail to chronicle@malawi.net
Or go to http://www.ijnet.org/News/Africa/Malawi/index.html
