As we celebrate World Press Freedom Day, it is perhaps opportune to reflect on the role and responsibility of media in our society. The past decades have been a bumpy ride for the media who has often been accused of being the ‘feral beast’ (in the words of Tony Blair), lap dog and more recently ‘the enemy of the people’ to quote Donald Trump. These often rather gratuitous comments have at times been substantiated by the fact that journalists are considered among the least trusted professionals (together with lawyers and politicians). Despite the accusatory language, media and for that matter a free, balanced and credible media remains an undeniable feature of a functioning democracy.

Media as we know it today has undergone (and is continuing to undergo) a major transformation. This, to a large extent, has been powered by technology that has caused the convergence of platforms and the creation of new types of content. In fact, the rise of citizen journalism has exerted pressure on media professionals to remain relevant and responsive to its audience. That is why in a number of societies, the call for quality and excellence in journalism is bringing back a sort of journalistic renaissance. In fact, this to a large extent is rooted in the clarion call for media’s role and responsibility to tell and citizens’ right to know.

Important trends shaping the media ecosystem

It was mentioned above that technology is an important game changer within media systems. However, there are a number of key trends that are changing the manner in which content is produced and consumed – the advent of fact checking, data / evidence based journalism, citizenry democracy and the return to slow journalism.

Fact checking

C P Scott famous quote that has become the leitmotif of Brit- ish journalism – “Comment is free but facts are sacred”. Indeed, facts more than ever are fundamen- tal to truthful and good journal- ism and especially in an era where ‘post truths’ and ‘alternative facts’ ‘are challenging established knowl- edge systems. As we are aware, this is most visible in the US where the coming of Donald Trump has cre- ated a new news ecosystem where everything is potentially challenge- able and can be reinterpreted along often populist and shortsighted lenses.

Fact checking is now an inevitable feature of many newsrooms who are investing in setting up dedicated teams of fact checkers. Pioneering examples are Liberation Desintox, the Guardian’s Reality Check Blog and Der Spiegel’s Munchhausen Check. Dedicated institutions have also been set up like the Poynter Institute in the US or a more recent one called Africa Check. Africa Check in fact has the vocation of imparting these fundamental sets of skills not only to journalists but to aspiring journalists.

Data/evidence based journalism

Journalism’s revival in certain parts of the world has been prompted by the power of data. Data, when intelligently and creatively used, can tell a compelling story and can draw the attention of the audience to issues that matter. In fact, the movement around open data in a number of countries has pushed journalists to scrape and curate data and in the process generate exceptional stories. I remember some years ago during an open data journalism bootcamp held in Nairobi, one of the participants stumbled across a dataset linked to school absenteeism in one of the counties in Kenya. At first glance it seemed to be a classical example of school absenteeism but scraping the da- ta showed a sinister link between girls’ school absenteeism and absence of sanitation facilities in that particular school! When the story broke out in one of the main- stream newspapers, parents used the story to demand for toilets in the school. This in many ways demonstrates the power of data to tell a compelling story and to connect to the realities of its audience. In fact, this is bringing back the concept - journalism that matters.

Citizenry Democracy

Democracy is in flux and even according to a number of respected experts in decline. Citizenry democracy seems to be the buzz term that will develop what experts hope a more demand driven approach. This demand driven approach is linked to a certain extent to the role and responsibility that media plays as a key tenant of a quality based democracy where the power to shape genuine and authentic conversations from the bottom is both strong and unique. In fact, I have witnessed across Africa how both legacy and new media are allowing citizens of all ages to be more vocal and articulate. This is particularly visible with radio which remains the most powerful tool on the continent for social and political transformation. The case of Mauritius speaks to this where the advent of private commercial radio played an important role in listeners voicing out their concerns. In fact, both democracy and media depend on each other for their survival.

Slow journalism

There seems to be a return to the basic and essential values that define journalism. After two decades of breaking news imperatives, 24/7 news pumping and recycling and overt sensationalism, one notes a slow but growing move to in-depth and investigative journalism. This type of journalism is in fact tied to the three trends mentioned before and can chart a new relational power between the media and its audience built on trust, truth, respect and authenticity.

The case of Mauritius?

Mauritius has a long tradition of written media and it is of- ten cited as one of the longest and most established in the Southern hemisphere. As for broadcast media, we have a partially liberalised landscape with the advent some 15 years ago of private commercial radio. As for television - the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation that I will define more as a state as opposed to a public broad- caster remains highly problematic especially in light of the burgeoning news ecosystem (Facebook, online websites, personal blogs).

The relation between certain media and those in power have at best been tempestuous and at worst vindictive. This has been duly noted in the different media barometers (Reporters without Frontiers and Freedom House) that over the last 10 years saw Mauritius tumble from a global ranking of 25th position in 2007 to 56th position in 2017.

What is needed?

Is an open and liberated in- formation landscape the answer? Indeed, for some time now there has been the promise of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) as pledged by various political parties in their respective electoral manifestos. We are yet to see the draft legislation pertaining to this! However, a word of caution is important here as we can end up having a FOIA that merely acts as a window dressing device - good looking from a distance but ill-suited to any useful end. A number of countries such India, Mexico and Bulgaria act as best practices as to the manner in which such legislation should be instituted. Maybe the media in Mauritius, in a collective and unified manner, should advocate for an inclusive and consultative FOIA and this should be done in collaboration with other stakeholders.

Another key role and responsibility that the media in Mauritius should position itself for is shaping conversations and discourses. We are all aware that in less than one year, our tiny nation turns 50. This is an opportune time for the media to claim its role as a social, political and cultural shaper in generating open, frank and genuine debates as Mauritius turns 50 and understand what type of society its citizens aspire to live in. Again in a number of African countries who have already turned 50 this was the case, allowing media to act as a vital link towards citizenship building.

In conclusion, I would like to reiterate the case for excellence in journalism – a craft that matters and where professionalism, ethics, truth and balance remain cornerstone features despite the advent of new and disruptive technologies.