Committee to Protect Journalists blasts Protection of State Information Bill
12 Dec 2011
The message that South Africa is sending across the continent with a Protection of State Information Bill that is severely detrimental to the freedom of information is one of the reasons why the government needs to reconsider the bill. This was according to two leading lights of the Committee to Protect Journalists, who were in South Africa on a fact-finding mission on the bill, but also to lobby the ANC to change its stance on the bill.
And that's only the beginning of CPJ's concerns.
Despite what some may believe, SA doesn't exist in a vacuum. Actions taken here can have reverberations across the continent and the world. And 17 years after the first democratic vote happened, this country still is a beacon for freedom-loving people throughout the world.
This was the message brought to SA by two representatives of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. The chairwoman Sandra Mims-Rowe and the deputy director Robert Mahoney met with several local editors, as well as ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu. to express their concerns about the Protection of State Information Bill.
Continue reading the full story in www.dailymaverick.co.za.
For more:
- Bizcommunity Special Section: Special focus on media freedom & right to know
- Bizcommunity Search: Protection of Information Bill or Secrecy Bill or Black Tuesday
- Google News Search: Protection of Information Bill
- Twitter Search: "Protection of Information Bill" OR POIB OR "Secrecy Bill" OR secrecybill OR POSIB OR "Protection of State Information Bill" or blacktuesday
About Sipho Hlongwane: @comradesipho
Sipho Hlongwane is a professional communicator and freelance writer based in Cape Town. Follow him on Twitter at @comradesipho.
View my profile and articles...
- Why playing it straight and true always wins - 13 Nov 2015
- Committee to Protect Journalists blasts Protection of State Information Bill - 12 Dec 2011
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View my profile and articles...