Political upheaval, civil wars, and fragile democracies presented extraordinary challenges to Africa’s independent press. The murder of veteran journalist Appolos Hakazimana was a chilling reminder of the fact that Rwanda continues to be one of the most dangerous countries in the region for journalists to work. Despite threats to their safety, journalists like Ishmael Jalloh, who was killed while covering a battle in post-coup Sierra Leone, continue to risk their lives in order to practice their profession.

Ethiopia once again holds the regional lead for imprisoned journalists—16 at the end of the year, all of them newly jailed during 1997. As CPJ documented in its 1996 report on Ethiopia, "Clampdown in Addis," the Meles regime routinely punishes outspoken journalists with sentences ranging from six to 18 months for allegedly "false" reporting or inciting "anxieties" and ethnic strife. Journalists are also detained for weeks or months at a time without charges. And the alarming jump in the number of jailed Nigerian journalists—13, compared to 8 last year—reflects the escalating brutality of the Abacha regime. Among the prisoners is Sunday Magazine editor Christine Anyanwu, a 1997 recipient of CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award.
In the midst of environments where the media are relentlessly targeted by governments that reject their calls for accountability and erect formidable obstacles to a free press, the region is home to a remarkable number of vibrant media outlets. Journalists working with Zambia’s Post, Benin’s Echo du Jour, The Nation in Kenya, The Independent in Ghana, and Nigeria’s TELL and TheNEWS deserve praise for their courage and professionalism as they face a daily struggle for survival.

The barrage of criminal libel suits throughout sub-Saharan Africa, used ruthlessly by governments seeking to break the back of the media, places tremendous financial burdens on the independent press. A single libel conviction can force a newspaper to stop publishing or go financially bankrupt. In the Ivory Coast, the government of Henri Konan Bédié has stepped up its prosecutions of journalists sympathetic to the opposition. Although a CPJ campaign led to the release on January 1 of Freedom Neruda, editor of the independent opposition newspaper La Voie, along with reporter Emmanuel Koré, and publisher Abou Drahamane, after they had served a year of a two-year sentence for insulting the president, seditious libel suits continue unabated in their country. In October, Neruda received CPJ's 1997 International Press Freedom Award.

Publications willing to run stories critical of public officials often suffer a loss of revenue when governments pull their advertising. Concerned about offending the state, many private businesses follow suit.

In a region where newspapers and magazines reach only a fraction of the population, the influence of international radio networks such as the British Broadcasting Corporation, Radio France Internationale, the Voice of America, and others who broadcast in numerous African and European languages, is significant. In addition to often being the sole source of international news, foreign radio networks provide local news that does not make it onto state-run broadcasts. In many African countries, the relative affordability of FM radio equipment makes it possible for nongovernmental institutions and private entrepreneurs to invest in broadcasting, but many governments refuse to relinquish control of the airwaves.

Although electronic mail and the Internet have revolutionized information-gathering and dissemination in many African countries, the availability of this technology is limited by high access fees, government regulatory practices, and the scarcity and unreliability of telephone lines. In recent years, a number of large-scale telecommunications infrastructure-building projects have been announced, representing a growing trend toward private foreign investment in the continent’s underdeveloped telecommunications industry.

Newspapers in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe post editions on the Internet, thereby disseminating critical information worldwide and providing a direct link to African communities abroad.

Although the new technologies have significantly benefited African journalists by reversing the historical flow of information, the region's media professionals remain vulnerable because they work in environments with repressive press laws, weak judiciaries, and government officials who target them with impunity.