Africa media boss raps foreign NGOs

KIGALI - The president of the Federation of Africa Journalists (FAJ), Omar Faruk Osman, has criticized foreign NGOs that assume the role of media watchdogs for publishing misleading information as well as hiding under the veil of journalism to make profit in Africa. Osman, who arrived in the country on Friday for a two-day regional media conference that opens on Monday, yesterday accused the NGO media watchdogs of exploiting African problems to make themselves famous instead of representing the rights of journalists. “These so-called media representatives always adjust their reports according to where the money is. If we are talking about terrorism today, they will report as if they are experts. If we are talking about media rights, they will adjust accordingly even without carrying out ground research,” Osman said. He further questioned the agenda and legitimacy of the watchdogs, saying that they do not speak or represent journalists’ rights and opinions in Africa and can’t be trusted as real media practitioners. “Even the media community does not understand them. They are not accountable to anyone, nobody knows how they are funded and in fact, they shouldn’t be called organizations but rather, individuals since most of them are controlled by the interests of their founders,” Osman said. He called on the watchdogs to stop undermining the democratic process of African countries, especially those that had a tragic past with colonialists and tribalism and are trying to gradually establish democracy. “We are sending these NGOs a clear message; that we know what is good for us as African journalists. We must lead and they follow, not the other way round. We lead for the interests of Africa, especially in the promotion of human rights and democracy,” Osman said. Osman, a former correspond for CNN and Secretary General of the Union of Somali Journalists, was in 2010 re-elected president of FAJ, an African regional group of the International Federation of Journalists, which addresses the social and professional issues affecting journalists in Africa. Ends