State of the media in Southern Africa - 2003 ■ MORE ABOUT MISA ALERTS T he alert is different to a media statement that the latter is more a reaction and comment on an incident, while an alert is simply a report about it. Where comment is included in an alert it is best reported as a quote. Action alerts also educate people about the nature of media freedom violations, leading to greater sensitivity to threats and violations, thus ensuring that more and more violations do not go unreported. MISA alerts are used as a source of information by media freedom organisations around the world and serve to augment important international reports and publications which in turn are used as advocacy tools or research documents. What types of incidents are reported in an action alert? 1. Direct violations against journalists’ right to operate or report freely - these include physical or verbal attacks or threats against journalists during the course of their work or as a result of their work; journalists being barred illegally from observing events or incidents or inspecting areas, journalists evicted or deported from a country because of their work, journalists imprisoned or detained and, journalists killed during the course of or as a result of their work. 2 Censorship - this is where media workers, institutions or activities are banned or blocked. Where this does happen always indicate who issued the ban, why and in terms of which laws the ban was issued (sometimes countries have more than one law which could be used to censor media). 3. Court cases - these are court cases involving the media or concerning issues which affect the media (e.g. a 1995 case in Zimbabwe involving cell phone company Retrofit did not include the media but significantly advanced freedom of expression and required to be reported). Alerts are not normally issued for trials or cases which are in progress (unless something significant happens), the commencement and conclusion (judgement) are the most important to report (it requires however that the entire trial be monitored). Background information is very important in alerts relating to court cases e.g. where a newspaper is being sued over an article, find out when the contentious article was published and give a brief idea of what the article said or reported. This helps to access whether a trial is reasonable and fair. In the case of a criminal trial, indicate exactly which law and sections thereof the journalist or media is being charged under. 4. Legislation - This refers to the introduction, amendment or repealing of all legislation affecting media in some way or the other. Very draconian legislation is usually monitored and reported from the stage at which it is mooted. When issuing in alert around legislation, we make sure to explain precisely which parts of the law affect the media and how. 5. Policies and statements by elected government officials - these are monitored and reported in so far as they have a direct bearing on the workings and operations of the media. Verbal threats or attacks on the media are crucial to report, as well as statements advancing new policies or clarifying, government policies with respect to the media. So This Is Democracy? 2003 158 Media Institute of Southern Africa