The latest threats came from State President Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika, who has warned that he will close down media houses and arrest journalists who continue to report negatively about his administration. The president accused journalists in the country of deliberately misrepresenting facts when writing their stories.

MISA-Malawi is also aware of threats on individual journalists as well as media houses, from people who claim to have been defamed in stories written by the concerned reporters or published by a particular media house.

Such actions can easily be construed as a deliberate and strategic crackdown by those in authority on media houses deemed to be critical of the government. We also feel that such actions instill fear in journalists and other media workers and the overall assumption would be that government is slowly but earnestly taking strategic steps at silencing the media.

In our view, the media in the country is fulfilling its rightful role as watchdog of society and taking a proactive role in[...]

[Published in AidNews - Read the original article]