English PDF - East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders ...

30Journalists on the Frontline of Human Rights DefenceContents of the news included items like, German Kaiser’s birthday, construction of a modernhospital, road or bridge, a note on Chief Mirambo of the Nyamwezi tribe, etc.Then came the private press. The Zeitung, a settlers’ newspaper, which was established in 1899,became a bi-weekly in 1908. The major policy of the paper was to propagate the rights of thestrongest race, particularly the German settlers in then Tanganyika.During the British colonial rule, a number of tribal as well as national newspapers sprung up. Afew African elites, who had benefited from a doze of colonial education, started these papers toshout their grievances.Some of these newspapers include; Komkya (In Kilimanjaro region), Lumuli and Mbegete (InLake Victoria region) and Arumeru (In Arusha region).Later in the 1950s Mwafrika (The African) was established to become the first nation-widenewspaper that advocated for more representation of Africans in the Legislative council, thenself-government and independence. The colonial regime started Mamboleo newspaper as acounter-critic of Mwafrika. The paper contained a lot of poetry, singing litanies of praise to thecolonial regime. The aim was to lure the people away from the struggle for independence.(Nkwabi Ng’wanakilala, Mass Media and Development of Socialism in Tanzania)This basically became the role of the press then; the Government’s newspapers praising theestablishment and advocating for continued colonial domination, while the nationalist paperskeeping the Government in check and mobilising people to claim their independence.Current stateToday in Tanzania, it is difficult for an average person to count how many newspapers – dailies,weeklies and even bi-monthlies there are; the titles are ranging from yellow press to seriousnewspapers.The major media houses are; IPP Media, which owns nine titles of newspapers, two radiostations, and two TV stations; Business Times, which owns four newspaper titles, and an FMradio station; Habari Corporation that owns four newspaper titles, and MwananchiCommunication that owns three newspaper titles. These are private media houses that one couldcall serious newspapers. Here we do not mention a number of yellow newspapers that publishgossip and porn-related stories, the ruling party’s newspapers and a radio station, Governmentmedia houses and religious groups’ radio stations and newspapers.“The advent of the private press saw individuals who had no journalistic background entering thebusiness to make fortunes. Businessmen who had dreamt of making quick money through themedia started newspapers and invited a few professionals to give their papers a face value. Afterseveral publications, the businessmen realized the media business was not meant for makingquick money. They therefore closed,” says Ayub Rioba in his unpublished paper, The State ofTanzanian Journalism.The costs of gathering, processing, printing and distributing newspapers threaten the survival ofmost newspapers. And it is usually the owners (publishers) who determine the allocation ofwhatever returns from adverts and newspaper sales. They set - without any formal criteria - thesalaries, allowances and other incentives for their workers.